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University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
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Photo#137360
Sarcophaga sp? - female

Sarcophaga sp? - Female
Naples, Collier County, Florida, USA
August 17, 2007
Size: see photos
I believe that this is a female, due to the distance between the eyes. Is there some other way to tell?

I feel that this is a Sarcophaga species because of the three bold stripes down the back of the fly. It "matches" many of the other Sarcophaga species photos on the guide. There are also other physical markers that I checked here, and they do seem consistent with the genus.

Finally, I am also confident of the I.D. because I found this fly at work (the Medical Examiner's office!). We have abundant attractive odors for flies at times here (especially summer), and there are often stow-aways inside of body bags, etc.

I am adding these photos because there is no data as of yet re: Sarcophaga in August for Florida.

The fly was captured and placed in a container with absolute methanol soaked into a paper towel. It quickly succumbed, and is now part of my growing collection.

Thanks for the help.

Images of this individual: tag all
Sarcophaga sp? - female Sarcophaga sp? - female Sarcophaga sp? - female Sarcophaga sp? - female Sarcophaga sp? - female

the three stripes on the thorax
are diagnostic to family; many genera in sarcophagidae have them. Flesh flies are particularly hard to tell apart; some genera can be distinguished only after examining the fly's dissected terminalia

Sarcophaga looks right, but I'm no expert.
I think you and a friend of mine would have much to discuss. He supplies medical maggots and has served as an expert witness relative to what I call "baby flies" on corpses.

 
Just warming up
I am just now starting to collect up all kinds of insects I come across at work. Most of them are found outside, probably killed by County-applied pesticides. That's a drag, but at least they can go into a collection and get a little love that way.

I'll probably be submitting more photos like these over the next many months. The photos I take at home are all live specimens from the back yard!

Still, it's fun to take a more documentary approach to specimens like these, and they're easy to do with sufficient detail since they're not moving around!

I also have access to a macro- and microscope, but no camera setup, unfortunately. Plus, of course, this is all stuff I do on my lunch, or whatever, because there is other business to attend to during regular office hours!

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