A species-group framework to unravel blowfly diversity: integrative revision of the Calliphora clarki-group (Diptera: Calliphoridae)
Abstract
The Australian Calliphorinae represent a diverse division of the global blowfly fauna and a broad range of life histories. Past research focused on the carrion-breeding species and there remains a paucity of research on species with other life histories. This study is the first in a series of revisionary works that combine morphology with mitochondrial DNA to revise the entire Australian Calliphorinae. A new species-group system for the subfamily is proposed, along with descriptions and revisions of species within the newly established Calliphora clarki-group. Three new species are described: C. ampyx sp. nov., C. ignicera sp. nov. and C. niveata sp. nov. Keys are provided to the Australian Calliphorinae species groups and to species within the clarki-group. Species concepts are supported by molecular delimitation analysis using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene.
References
Andrews S. 2010. FastQC: A quality control tool for high throughput sequence data [Online]. Available from http://www.bioinformatics.babraham.ac.uk/projects/fastqc/ [accessed 24 Mar. 2025].
Butterworth N.J., Wallman J.F., Drijfhout F.P., Johnston N.P., Keller P.A. & Byrne P.G. 2020. The evolution of sexually dimorphic cuticular hydrocarbons in blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Journal of Evolutionary Biology 33 (10): 1468–1486. https://doi.org/10.1111/JEB.13685
Cumming, J.M. & Wood D.M. 2017. Adult morphology and terminology. In: Kirk-Spriggs A.H., Sinclair B.J. & Muller B.S. (eds) Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. Volume 1. Introductory Chapters and Keys to Diptera Families: 89–133. Suricata, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
Dear J.P. 1985. Fauna of New Zealand 8: Calliphoridae (Insecta, Diptera). Science Information Publishing Centre D.S.I.R., Wellington.
Fuller M.E. 1933. The life history of Onesia accepta Malloch (Diptera, Calliphoridae). Parasitology 25 (3): 342–352. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182000019545
Hardy G.H. 1930. The Queensland species of Calliphora subgenus Neopollenia. Bulletin of Ento-mological Research 21 (4): 441–448. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182000019545
Hardy G.H. 1932. Some Australian species of Calliphora (subgenera Neopollenia and Proekon). Bulletin of Entomological Research 23 (4): 549–558. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485300004326
Hardy G.H. 1947. Notes on Australian Muscoidea, VI. Calliphora in Australia and New Zealand. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 57 (5): 53–56. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.168221
Johnston N.P., Wallman J.F., Dowton M., Szpila K. & Pape T. 2020a. Taxonomic revision of Australian Amobia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Sarcophagidae: Miltogramminae): Integrating morphology and genetics finds a new species and tackles old problems. European Journal of Taxonomy 722: 75–96. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.722.1135
Johnston N.P., Wallman J.F. & Pape T. 2020b. Integrative taxonomy of Australian Metopia (Sarcopha-gidae: Miltogramminae) reveals a new species and challenges traditional phylogeny. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (6): 5. https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaa016
Johnston N.P., Wallman J.F., Szpila K. & Pape T. 2021. Integrative taxonomy reveals remarkable diversity in Australian Protomiltogramma (Diptera: Sarcophagidae). Zootaxa 5043 (1): 1–104. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5043.1.1
Johnston N.P., Piwczyński M., Trzeciak P., Walczak K. & Szpila K. 2023. Integration of mitogenomic and morphological data disentangles the systematics of Pollenia and establishes a revised phylogenetic hypothesis for the Polleniidae. Systematic Entomology 48 (2): 296–315. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12576
Jombart T. & Bateman A. 2008. adegenet: A R package for the multivariate analysis of genetic markers. Bioinformatics 24 (11): 1403–1405. https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOINFORMATICS/BTN129
Katoh K. & Standley D.M. 2013. MAFFT multiple sequence alignment software version 7: Improve-ments in performance and usability. Molecular Biology and Evolution 30 (4): 772–780. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst010
Kurahashi H. 1970. Tribe Calliphorini from Australian and Oriental regions, I. Melinda-group (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Pacific Insects 12 (3): 519–542. Available from http://hbs.bpbmwebdata.org/pi/pdf/12(3)-519.pdf [accessed 24 Mar. 2025].
Kurahashi H. 1971. The Tribe Calliphorini from Australian and Oriental Regions, II. Calliphora-group (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Pacific Insects 13 (1): 141–204. Available from http://hbs.bpbmwebdata.org/Fiji/pdf/kurahashi1971.pdf [accessed 24 Mar. 2025].
Kurahashi H. 2016. Family Calliphoridae. In: Evenhuis N.L. (ed.) Catalog of the Diptera of the Australasian and Oceanian Regions – Web version). Available from http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/aocat/calliphoridae.html [accessed 6 Feb. 2024].
Malloch J.R. 1927. Notes on Australian Diptera. No. XI. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 52: 299–335.
Nelson L.A., Wallman J.F. & Dowton M. 2007. Using COI barcodes to identify forensically and medically important blowflies. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 21 (1): 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2915.2007.00664.x
Norris K.R. 1965. The bionomics of blow flies. Annual Review of Entomology 10 (1): 47–68. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV.EN.10.010165.000403
Norris K.R. 1973. Synonymy and status of some Australian Calliphoridae (Diptera). Australian Journal of Entomology 12 (1): 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1973.tb02148.x
Norris K.R. 1994. Three new species of Australian ‘golden blowflies’ (Diptera: Calliphoridae: Calliphora), with a key to described species. Invertebrate Systematics 8 (6): 1343–1366. https://doi.org/10.1071/IT9941343
Norris K.R. 1996. Lectotype designation and characterisation of the Australian blowflies Calliphora pubescens Macquart and Calliphora testaceifacies Macquart (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Australian Journal of Entomology 35 (1): 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1440-6055.1996.TB01361.X
Norris K.R. 1997. Supposed Australian record of the New Zealand blowfly Calliphora quadrimaculata (Swederus) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The Entomologist 116: 37–39.
Norris K.R. 1999. Establishment of a subfamily Aphyssurinae for the Australian genus Aphyssura Hardy (Diptera: Calliphoridae), with a review of known forms and descriptions of new species. Invertebrate Systematics 13 (4): 511–628. https://doi.org/10.1071/IT98007
Norris K.R. 2000. Lectotype designation and description of the Tasmanian blowfly Calliphora dispar Macquart 1846 (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Australian Journal of Entomology 39 (4): 256–258. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-6055.2000.00189.x
Norris K.R. 2002. Synonymy, distribution and bionomics of the Australian blowfly Onesia accepta (Malloch) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Australian Journal of Entomology 41 (4): 354–356. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-6055.2002.00306.x
Patton W.S. & Cushing E.C. 1934. Studies on the higher Diptera of medical and veterinary importance. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 28 (1): 123–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/00034983.1934.11684794
Puillandre N., Brouillet S. & Achaz G. 2020. ASAP: assemble species by automatic partitioning. Molecular Ecology Resources 21 (2): 609–620. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13281
Rognes K. 1991. Blowflies (Diptera, Calliphoridae) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. In: Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica (Vol. 24). E.J. Brill/Scandinavian Science Press Ltd.
Rognes K. 1998. 3.51. Family Calliphoridae. In: Papp L, Darvas B (eds) Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera, Vol. 3: Higher Brachycera: 617–468. Budapest: Science Herald.
Scheible M., Stinson T.L., Breen M., Callahan B.J., Thomas R. & Meiklejohn K.A. 2024. The development of non-destructive sampling methods of parchment skins for genetic species identification. PLoS ONE 19 (3): e0299524. https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0299524
Schumann H. 1964. Revision der Gattung Onesia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Beiträge zur Entomologie 14 (7/8): 915–938. https://doi.org/10.21248/contrib.entomol.14.7-8.915-938
Sonet G., Jordaens K., Braet Y. & Desmyter S. 2012. Why is the molecular identification of the foren-sically important blowfly species Lucilia caesar and L. illustris (family Calliphoridae) so problematic? Forensic Science International 223: 153–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2012.08.020
Szpila K., Piwczyński M., Glinkowski W., Lutz L., Akbarzadeh K., Baz A., Johnston N.P. & Grzywacz A. 2023. First molecular phylogeny and species delimitation of West Palaearctic Pollenia (Diptera: Polleniidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 197 (1): 267–282. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac035
Verves Y.G. 2004. A review of the ‘Onesia’ Generic Group (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Part 2. The species of the genus Bellardia Robineau-Desvoidy. Far Eastern Entomologist 135: 1–23.
Wallman J.F. 2001. A key to the adults of species of blowflies in southern Australia known or suspected to breed in carrion [corrigendum in Medical and Veterinary Entomology 16: 223]. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 15 (4): 433–437. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0269-283X.2001.00331.x
Wallman J.F. & Donnellan S.C. 2001. The utility of mitochondrial DNA sequences for the identification of forensically important blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in southeastern Australia. Forensic Science International 120 (1–2): 60–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0379-0738(01)00426-1
Wells J.D., Lunt N. & Villet M.H. 2004. Recent African derivation of Chrysomya putoria from C. chloropyga and mitochondrial DNA paraphyly of cytochrome oxidase subunit one in blowflies of forensic importance. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 18 (4): 445–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0269-283X.2004.00531.x
White T.E., Vogel-Ghibely N. & Butterworth N.J. 2020. Flies exploit predictable perspectives and backgrounds to enhance iridescent signal salience and mating success. American Naturalist 195 (4): 733–742. https://doi.org/10.1086/707584
Whitworth T.L., Dawson R.D., Magalon H. & Baudry E. 2007. DNA barcoding cannot reliably identify species of the blowfly genus Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274 (1619): 1731–1739. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0062
Williams K.A., Villet M.H. & Lamb J. 2016. Phylogenetic radiation of the greenbottle flies (Diptera, Calliphoridae, Luciliinae). ZooKeys 568: 59–86. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.568.6696
Yan L., Pape T., Meusemann K., Kutty S.N., Meier R., Bayless K.M. & Zhang D. 2021. Monophyletic blowflies revealed by phylogenomics. BMC Biology 19: 230. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-021-01156-4
Zhang A.B., Hao M.-Di, Yang C.Q. & Shi Z.Y. 2017. BarcodingR: an integrated r package for species identification using DNA barcodes. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 8 (5): 627–634. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12682
Copyright (c) 2025 Nikolas P. Johnston, Krzysztof Szpila, Thomas Pape, Kelly A. Meiklejohn, Liam B. Foley, James F. Wallman
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons Copyright Notices
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are NOT PERMITTED to post their submitted work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) prior to publication, as it may lead to nomenclatural issues.
