Lucilia eximia

(Wiedemann, 1819)

green bottle fly

Lucilia eximia is a green bottle in the , distributed throughout the Neotropics from northern Mexico to southern South America. The is a significant forensic indicator used to estimate postmortem intervals, with welldocumented intra-puparial development stages and thermal accumulation requirements. Laboratory studies indicate require both sugar and sources for optimal longevity, with water deprivation severely reducing survival. The species colonizes animal remains in urban environments exposed to sunlight.

Lucilia eximia by (c) Francisco Farriols Sarabia, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Francisco Farriols Sarabia. Used under a CC-BY license.

Lucilia eximia by Terry Whitworth. Used under a Copyrighted free use license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Lucilia eximia: /lʊˈsɪliə ɛɡˈzɪmiə/

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Images

Habitat

Urban environments, particularly animal remains exposed to sunlight. Laboratory rearing successful at 25.46±1.21°C, 93.31±2.41% , with 12:12 light:dark and vermiculite substrate for .

Distribution

Neotropical region, ranging from northern Mexico to southern South America. Documented in Rica, Colombia (Florencia, Caquetá), and Brazil (widespread across states including AC, AM, AP, BA, CE, DF, ES, GO, MA, MG, MS, MT, PA, PB, PE, PR, RJ, RN, RO, RR, RS, SC, SP, TO). Also present in Galápagos Islands.

Diet

. feed on animal remains and carcasses. require sugar and sources for optimal longevity; protein deprivation reduces survival compared to sugaronly diets.

Life Cycle

with documented intrapuparial development. Pre- stage lasts 80±1.5 hours, involving larval contraction, cephalic retraction into second , segment invagination (12th into 11th continuing to 8th into 7th), barrel shape formation, intestine emptying, and 25.53% length reduction. Intra-puparial development totals 302±3.81 hours: -pupa (23±1.08 h), cryptocephalic pupa (5±0.53 h), phanerocephalic pupa (92±1.94 h), with transparent (125±2.15 h), eyes (23±0.89 h), pink eyes (14±0.73 h), and red eyes (20±0.60 h). Pharate adult completely formed at 296 hours; adult at 302±3.81 h. Total requires 7,236.50 accumulated degree hours.

Behavior

Postfeeding stop feeding, become pink, leave carcass to find substrate, and remain active for approximately 6 hours before burrowing.

Ecological Role

Forensic for estimating postmortem interval in medicolegal investigations. Contributes to decomposition of animal remains in urban environments. characterized by dependent and survival parameters predicting one-point equilibrium for immatures.

Human Relevance

Primary forensic importance as a biological indicator for postmortem interval . Used in investigations throughout Central and South America. Laboratory studies on longevity under resource deprivation conditions inform time-since- estimates in enclosed environments.