Determining an optimal diet and rearing protocol for Phormia regina

In addition to their ecological importance in decomposition, blow flies are important as evidence and aid in criminal investigations. It is important to successfully maintain adult flies in the lab in order to research certain topics such as oviposition, life history, and responses to volatile organic compounds associated with decomposition, which could provide insight on blow fly behavior that is useful for investigations. Currently, a standardized protocol on rearing adult blow flies is lacking in the forensic entomology community. Studies including adult blow flies often report the resources provided to flies briefly with little to no explanation as to why they used those resources. There are also conflicting results among studies that used similar resources to rear blow flies. Based on the results of a North American Forensic Entomology Association membership survey, we tested the effects of two commonly used protein sources, bovine blood and milk powder, and two sugar sources, sugar cubes and honey, on Phormia regina Meigen (Diptera: Calliphoridae) development using wild caught and lab reared flies. Data was collected on mortality, time before oviposition, and number of viable offspring. Phormia regina was used for this project as it is often a primary species used to estimate time of colonization in death investigations. Phormia regina had similar mortality rates across all treatments. Further analyses with be completed on the offspring collected from each treatment. The results from this study will be used to inform best practices in forensic entomology about rearing adult blow flies in the laboratory setting.