Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Ultrastructure of immature stages of Cochliomyia macellaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae), a fly of medical and veterinary importance

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Parasitology Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cochliomyia macellaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is known as the secondary screwworm because it causes secondary or facultative myiasis when the larvae feed on necrotic tissues. This fly has a significant medical and veterinary importance since it has been reported to transport eggs of Dermatobia hominis (human botfly), which can cause significant economic losses to livestock. Since this screwworm has been collected colonizing both pig carcasses and human cadavers, it is considered one of the most important species for forensic entomology studies. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) gives detailed information on the morphological characteristics which can help identify the immature forms of the flies. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the morphological characteristics of the eggs, all the larval instars, and the puparia of Cochliomyia macellaria using SEM. The egg is ellipsoid and the dorsal surface is concave. The islands inside the median area had no anastomosis, but some perforations could be observed. From the second larval instar onwards, besides the intersegmental spines, other bands of spines were observed at the abdominal segments. Two spiracular openings were visible on the first and second larval instars, which were not expected. These characteristics are specific to Cochliomyia genus. The number and the general aspect of the spine tips in the cephalic region, the intersegmental bands on the abdomen, and the number of the spiracular openings could together help identify C. macellaria.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anziani OS, Flores SG, Moltedo H, Derozier C, Guglielmone AA, Zimmermann GA, Wanker O (2000) Persistent activity of doramectin and ivermectin in the prevention of cutaneous myiasis in cattle experimentally infested with Cochliomyia hominivorax. Vet Parasitol 87(2–3):243–247

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barbosa RR, Mello-Patiu CA, Mello RP, Queiroz MMC (2009) New records ofcalyptrate dipterans (Fanniidae, Muscidae and Sarcophagidae) associated withthe decomposition of domestic pigs in Brazil. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 104:923–926.

  • Barreto M, Burbano ME, Barreto P (2002) Flies (Calliphoridae, Muscidae) and beetles (Silphidae) from human cadavers in Cali, Colombia. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 97(1):137–138

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biavati GM, Santana FHAR, Pujol-Luz JR (2010) A checklist of Calliphoridae blowflies (Insecta, Diptera) associated with a pig carrion in central Brazil. J Forensic Sci 55(6):1603–1606

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Catts EP, Goff ML (1992) Forensic entomology in criminal investigations. Annu Rev Entomol 37:253–272

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • d’Almeida JM, Lopes HS (1983) Sinantropia de dípteros caliptratos (Calliphoridae) no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Arq Univ Fed Rural do Rio de Janeiro 6(1):39–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Erzinclioglu YZ (1989) The value of chorionic structure and size in the diagnosis of blowfly eggs. Med Vet Entomol 3:281–285

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Florez E, Wolff M (2009) Descripción y Clave de los Estadios Inmaduros de las Principales Especies de Calliphoridae (Diptera) de Importancia Forense en Colombia. Neotropical Entomol 38(3):418–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grisi L, Massard CL, Moya-Borja GE, Pereira JB (2002) Impacto econômico das principais ectoparasitoses em bovinos no Brasil. A Hora Veterinária 125:8–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruner SV, Slone DH, Capinera JL (2007) Forensically important Calliphoridae (Diptera) associated with pig carrion in rural north-central Florida. J Med Entomol 44(3):509–515

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guimarães JH, Amorim DS (2006) Diptera. In: Costa C, Ide S, Simonka CE (eds) Insetos imaturos: metamorfose e, identificaçãoth edn. Holos, São Paulo

    Google Scholar 

  • Guimarães JH, Papavero N (1999) Miíasis in man and animals in Neotropical region. ed. Pleiade/FAPESP, São Paulo.

  • Hayat MA (1970) Principles and techniques of electron microscopy. In: Biological applications. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hebert PDN, Ratnasingham S, deWaard JR (2003) Barcoding animal life: cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 divergences among closely related species. Proc R Soc Lond B 270:S96–S99

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hinton HE (1981) Biology of insect eggs. ed. Pergamon Press, Oxford.

  • Leite ACR, Guevara JDE (1993) Scanning electron microscopy of the larval instars of Cochliomyia hominivorax. Med Vet Entomol 7:263–270

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu D, Greenberg B (1989) Immature stages of some flies of forensic importance. Ann Entomol Soc Am 82:80–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Margaritis LH (1985) Structure and physiology of eggshell. In: Kerkut GA, Gilbert LI (eds) Comprehensive insect physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology. v.I. Embryogenesis and reproduction. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 151–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Mc Alpine JF, Peterson BV, Shewell GE, Teskey JH, Vockeroth JR, Wood DN (1981) Manual of Neartic Diptera, Ottawa.

  • Mendonça PM, Santos-Mallet JR, Mello RP, Gomes L, Queiroz MMC (2008) Identification of fly eggs using scanning electron microscopy for forensic investigations. Micron 39:802–807

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mendonça PM, Santos-Mallet JR, Queiroz MMC (2010) Ultramorphological characteristics of immature stages of Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann 1819) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), a fly specie of forensic importance. Micr Res Tech 73:779–784

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendonça PM, Santos-Mallet JR, Queiroz MMC (2012a) Ultrastructure of larvae and puparia of the blowfly Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Micr Res Tech 75:935–939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendonça PM, Santos-Mallet JR, Queiroz MMC (2012b) Ultrastructure of immature stages of the blowfly Chrysomya putoria (Wiedemann, 1818) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Micr Res Tech 75:206–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendonça PM, Barbosa RR, Cortinhas LB, Santos-Mallet JR, Queiroz MMC (2013) Ultrastructure of immature stages of Peckia (Euboetcheria) collusor (Diptera: Sarcophagidae). Acta Trop 128:522–527

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson LA, Wallman JF, Dowton M (2007) Using COI barcodes to identify forensically and medically important blowflies. Med Vet Entomol 21:44–52

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson LA, Lambkin CL, Batterham P, Wallman JF, Dowton M, Whiting MF, Yeates DK, Cameron SL (2012) Beyond barcoding: a mitochondrial genomics approach to molecular phylogenetics and diagnostics of blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Gene 511:131–142

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oliva A (2001) Insects of forensic significance in Argentina. Forensic Sci Int 120(1–2):145–154

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira TC, Vasconcelos SD (2010) Insects (diptera) associated with cadavers at the institute of legal medicine in Pernambuco, Brazil: implications for forensic entomology. Forensic Sci Int 198(1–3):97–102

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ortloff A, Peña P, Riquelme M (2012) Preliminary study of the succession pattern of necrobiont insects, colonising species and larvae on pig carcasses in Temuco (Chile) for forensic applications. Forensic Sci Int 222(1–3):e36–e41

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Owings CG, Spiegelman C, Tarone AM, Tomberlin JK (2014) Developmental variation among Cochliomyia macellaria Fabricius (Diptera: Calliphoridae) populations from three ecoregions of Texas, USA. Int J Legal Med. doi:10.1007/s00414-014-1014-0

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson RD, Newman Junior SM (1991) Chorionic structure of the egg of the screwworm Cochliomyia hominivorax (Diptera: Calliphoridae). J Med Entomol 28:152–160

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Queiroz MMC, Milward-de-Azevedo EMV (1991) Técnicas de criação e alguns aspectos da biologia de Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) (Diptera, Calliphoridae), em condições de laboratório. Rev Bras Zool 8:75–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Queiroz MMC, Mello RP, Lima MM (1997) Morphological aspects of the larval instars of Chrysomya albiceps (Diptera: Calliphoridae) reared in the laboratory. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 92:187–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Queiroz MMC, Norberg NA, Maure EAP, Toledo RF, Gazêta GS, Dutra AEA, Rodrigues-Guimarães R (1999) Veiculação de bactérias patogênicas por moscas sinantrópicas coletadas em restaurantes, hospitais e feiras da Baixada Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. [Apresentação no XIV Congresso Latinoamericano de Parasitologia; Acapulco, Guerrero; México].

  • Skoda SR, Figarola JL, Pornkulwat S, Foster JE (2013) Inter- and intraspecific identification of the screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, using random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction. J Insect Sci 13:76

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sukontason K, Sukontason KL, Ngern-Klun R, Sripakdee D, Piangjai S (2004a) Differentiation of the third instar of forensically important fly species in Thailand. Ann Entomol Soc Am 97(6):1069–1075

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sukontason K, Sukontason KL, Boonchu N, Chaiwong T, Piangjai S (2004b) Ultrastructure of eggshell of Chrysomya nigripes Aubertin (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Parasitol Res 93:151–154

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Szpila K, Pape T (2008) Morphology of the first instar of the house fly Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae). J Med Entomol 45(4):594–599

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Szpila K, Hall MJR, Wardhana AH, Pape T (2014) Morphology of the first instar larva of obligatory traumatic myiasis agents (Diptera: Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae). Parasitol Res. doi:10.1007/s00436-014-3808-x

    Google Scholar 

  • Velásquez Y (2008) A checklist of arthropods associated with rat carrion in a montane locality of northern Venezuela. Forensic Sci Int 174(1):68–70

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zumpt F (1965) Myiasis in man and animals in the old world. ed. Butterworths. London.

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Platform Electron Microscopy Rudolf Barth of Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) for the use of the scanning electron microscope. This work was supported by grants from Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC/FIOCRUZ), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Transmissores de Leishmanioses, Setor de Entomologia Médica e Forense, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Paloma Martins Mendonça, Rodrigo Rocha Barbosa, Lucas Barbosa Cortinhas, Jacenir Reis dos Santos-Mallet & Margareth Maria de Carvalho Queiroz

  2. Doutoranda do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Veterinárias - Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Seropedica, RJ, Brazil

    Paloma Martins Mendonça

  3. Doutorando do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal - Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, RJ, Brazil

    Rodrigo Rocha Barbosa

  4. Mestrando do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Saúde, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Lucas Barbosa Cortinhas

Authors
  1. Paloma Martins Mendonça
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rodrigo Rocha Barbosa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lucas Barbosa Cortinhas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jacenir Reis dos Santos-Mallet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Margareth Maria de Carvalho Queiroz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paloma Martins Mendonça.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mendonça, P.M., Barbosa, R.R., Cortinhas, L.B. et al. Ultrastructure of immature stages of Cochliomyia macellaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae), a fly of medical and veterinary importance. Parasitol Res 113, 3675–3683 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4032-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4032-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation