Solid rocket motors (SRMs) help many heavy-lift rockets off the ground. “I think it is important to understand how the species interact with each other, and the presence of certain species can alter either the species on the carrion or the behavior of the insects there,” says the author.Solid Rocket Motors: Particle factories that produce acid rains, ozone holes When they do, the different timing of egg laying may enable each to exploit the food source without competition. sericata, which prefers the warmer summer months, from autumn-active P. regina in much of its range,” writes the author. rufifacies seems likely to become more common, possibly displacing P.
regina, our results imply that as seasons are extended with global warming, or as it continues to spread north even in the cooler months, C. “Irrespective of the possible evolution of P. regina open to competition from other later-occurring species. regina might also provide a means to avoid C. Alternatively, selection for greater delays in oviposition by P. regina could reduce or eliminate seasonal overlap with C. For example, selection saving more cold-tolerant P. regina would either have to evolve to deal with this competition or become locally extinct. regina in nature as in her experiments, P. rufifacies will likely overlap more with P. “However, given global warming,” writes the author, “ C. rufifacies is an introduced Australian native now ensconced in Southern California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. regina, also known as the black blow fly, is a spring and fall fly, avoiding the hotter and colder times of the year, and C. regina present.Ĭurrently, the two species seldom come into contact within the United States because P. When MacInnis mixed the two maggot species, C. It does not chew its victim, but rather secretes digestive enzymes that liquefy tissues so they can be consumed in a pre-digested slurry. It is a nasty customer indeed, wrapping around its prey and then sinking in its mouth hooks. rufifacies cannot get enough nourishment out of the corpse, it eats other maggots. rufifacies, also known as the hairy maggot blow fly, which brings another element into the game. Lucilia sericata lays eggs immediately, avoiding competition with P. It was lighted to mimic the day/night cycles that the insects would experience in the wild. The maggots were reared in a growth chamber: an incubator with a fan to circulate the air that holds a constant temperature. Her paper is based on observations of three species of blow flies: Phormia regina, Lucilia sericata, and Chrysomya rufifacies. Entomologists examine these patterns in experiments with animals to help investigators better understand what conclusions can be inferred from the presence of insects on a corpse. In forensic entomology investigations, a variety of blow fly species commonly arrive to feed on a corpse, and they often arrive in a predictable order. To study those interactions, researchers placed multiple ratios of the different species of blow fly maggots in containers (pictured here) with a mouse corpse on which to feed, and the containers were then placed in a temperature-regulating growth chamber. Also, since the late 1800s, workers on forensic entomology have discussed insect succession on carrion, but evidence for competition that might drive such succession has been lacking.”Ī new study on three species of blow flies that commonly factor into forensic entomology investigations examined what drives the timing of their arrival and how they interact. I think it is important to understand how the species interact with each other, and the presence of certain species can alter either the species on the carrion or the behavior of the insects there. “This is important because carrion is a complex environment with many different species and ages of insects present. “This research is a study into the interactions of these flies with other members on the carrion,” says the author.
What is more likely the number of a species could decrease might not be collected due to low numbers.” Only in an extreme case might the variety of blow fly species on a corpse be truly scrambled because of rising temperatures, says MacInnis, “but it is not out of the realm of possibility. MacInnis, the variety and proportion of blow fly species available for sampling by forensic investigators might change, posing a potential issue for investigators. (Read “environment” as a dead body.) If a warming climate raises seasonal temperatures sufficiently, says author Amber E. A new study by a Florida International University researcher, published this month in Environmental Entomology, supports the idea that timing of egg laying by different species is an adaptation that has evolved so they can avoid competition within the egg laying environment.