Life Cycle of Chrysomya rufifacies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) Under Semi-Controlled Laboratory Conditions

Adult Calliphoridae flies, as well as their immature stages collected from carcasses, have been used as evidence in forensic investigations to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI), particularly those of the genus Chrysomya as it is one of the first genera to colonize a corpse. Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart 1842), due to its appearance in cadaveric remains, plays a fundamental role in the study of forensic entomology. For this reason, we determined the biological cycle of C. rufifacies under semicontrolled laboratory conditions: uncontrolled average fluctuating temperature of 29.76 +/- 3.22 degrees C, uncontrolled average fluctuating humidity of 48.91 +/- 11.13%, and a controlled photoperiod of 12/12 (L/O). We established that the total development time from oviposition to adult emergence of C. rufifacies was 6.5 d. The eggs took 12 h to hatch after oviposition. The complete larval stage took 60 h (instar 1 = 12 h, instar 2 = 12 h, instar 3 = 24 h, instar 3 post-feeding = 12 h). The pupa had a duration of 84 h. The species needed a total of 4642.8 (+/- 4.59) accumulated degree-hours (ADH) to complete its biological cycle.