DNA barcoding for identification of forensically important synanthropic flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) from Eastern India

Sarcophagidae is a significant Diptera family because several of its species are among the first to visit a corpse, and it helps in minPMI estimation. Sarcophagidae species identification for a layman is difficult due to identical morphological appearance and if the fly is a female. Also, fly specimens get damaged due to improper storage of forensic specimens collected from crime scenes. Thus, in this study, we aimed to check the efficiency of cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) for identifying eleven sarcophagid flies species. Flesh flies were collected from various biogeographic regions of West Bengal. COI barcodes successfully differentiated between species with a very significant K2P interspecific genetic divergence, which ranged between 3.12% and 20.11%, and intraspecific genetic divergences ranged from 0% to 1%. The subgenera Uroxanthisca and Sinonipponia are used in the phylogenetic analysis for the first time in the oriental context. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using a Neighbour Joining (NJ) tree constructed using Kimura two-parameter (K2P) in MEGA X software. Thus, COI barcodes proved to be quite effective as an alternate method of identifying flesh fly species, and future studies should include additional markers for further phylogenetic investigations of the Sarcophagidae family.