Yellow-headed blowfly at Morton National Park
Identification history
| Amenia imperialis | 10 Mar 2024 | donhe | ||
| Amenia imperialis | 10 Mar 2024 | Christine | ||
| Chrysomya sp. (genus) | 10 Mar 2024 | donhe | ||
| Chrysomya sp. (genus) | 10 Mar 2024 | GrahamH | ||
| Calliphoridae (family) | 9 Mar 2024 | donhe | ||
| Unidentified | 9 Mar 2024 | Christine |
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User's notes
Large fly. There were a number of large flies, but I do not think they were all the same species.
3 comments
GrahamH
wrote:
10 Mar 2024
Calliphoridae - yes. Chrysomya species are often called tertiary flies in a sheep blowfly strike context, and are usually distinguished from Calliphora and Lucilia species by the distinct darker markings between the sutures on the dorsal surface. However, this species is very distinctive because of the white spots - I have not seen this species before. If it is possible to collect some live specimens this would make an interesting rearing project to define the immature stages.
The specimen is a male because the eyes are touching at the top edge, whereas females have a separation of the eyes in this position.
The specimen is a male because the eyes are touching at the top edge, whereas females have a separation of the eyes in this position.
GrahamH
wrote:
10 Mar 2024
Amenia imperialis - maybe. Murphy's Law says that other photos of this species show the female, whereas this specimen is a male, and the distinctive white spots in many of the photos appear to be variable in their position relative to the specimen in question. In addition, our specimen does not show the head clearly - no criticism of the photographer, while many other photos clearly show the features of the head. This exemplifies one of the big questions in taxonomy regarding intra-specific variability.
So we are back to the original diagnosis - do we just say Calliphoridae as a definitive diagnosis, or do we guess at a possible identification?
So we are back to the original diagnosis - do we just say Calliphoridae as a definitive diagnosis, or do we guess at a possible identification?
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Nearby sightings
Location information
- Coordinates 150.332319-35.108087
- Maps Morton National Park
- Places Tianjara, NSW
Sighting information
- 1 - 3 Abundance
- 8 Mar 2024 10:34 AM Recorded on
- Christine Recorded by
Additional information
- 5mm to 12mm Animal size
- Alive / healthy Animal health
Species information
- Amenia imperialis Scientific name
- Yellow-headed blowfly Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-Invasive
- Up to 671.2m Recorded at altitude
- Machine learning
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Confirmed by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
