During May 1980, 1165 blowflies of 12 species were trapped on chemically enhanced rat carrion baits in a dense urban setting in Chicago. In descending order, Cynomyopsis cadaverina, Lucilia sericata, and Phormia regina were the most abundant species recovered (92% of total). These results are contrasted with other nearby blowfly surveys

Baumgartner, Donald L

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The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 21 
Number 3 - Fall 1988 Number 3 - Fall 1988 Article 5 
October 1988 
Spring Season Survey of the Urban Blowflies (Diptera: 
Calliphoridae) of Chicago, Illinois 
Donald L. Baumgartner 
Northwest Mosquito Abatement District 
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Baumgartner, Donald L. 1988. "Spring Season Survey of the Urban Blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of 
Chicago, Illinois," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 21 (3) 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol21/iss3/5 
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1988 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 119 
SPRING SEASON SURVEY OF THE URBAN BLOWFLIES 
(DIPTERA: CALLIPHORIDAE) OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 
Donald L. Baumgartner1 
ABSTRACT 
During May 1980, 1165 blowflies of 12 speeies were trapped on chemically enhanced 
rat carrion baits in a dense urban setting in Chicago. In descending order, Cyn myopsis 
cadaverina, Lucilia sericata, and Phormia regina were the most abundant species 
recovered (92% of total). These results are contrasted with other nearby blowfly surveys. 
Blowflies are the major decomposers of carrion (Hall 1948). They are also medically 
important as disseminators of disease pathogens (Greenberg 1973). The role of these 
insects as medicological indicators in forensic medicine has only recently been widely 
recognized and applied (Smith 1986). However, there is a paucity of basic information on 
the distribution and phenology of these insects regionally (Smith 1986). Forensic 
inferences about cadaver history, as well as investigations of the medical importance of 
these insects, are dependent upon an adequate knowledge of the distribution, composi­
tion, and bionomics f carrion faunas which are known to vary with geography and 
synanthropy. Except for fall season collections (Melnick 1949) and carrion successional 
studies in forests (Johnson 1975), little other information exists on Illinoisan Calliphori­
dae, particularly in urban habitats during the spring season. I now report on the spring 
season occurrence of blowflies in a densely urban area of northeastern Illinois based on 
collections from chemically enhanced rat carrion. 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
From 7 to 25 May 1980, blowflies were collected from modified Bishopp type cone fly 
traps (Bishopp 1916) propped above ~2 cm) baits that were placed in full sun on cement 
or 
bare soil in an open area (0.03 km ) within the city 
of Chicago on the grounds of the 
University of Illinois campus, Cook County. The habitat is densely urban (eusynan­
thropic) with no fields or woodlots nearby. Each trap consisted of a 2.41 white cardboard 
bucket (15 cm ht) with an inverted fiberglass screen cone inserted into the widest opening 
(19 cm dia). 
Baits were recently sacrificed, abdominally incised, white rat carrion (250 gms) alone, 
or 
immersed in water (100 m!) 
or an aqueous solution (1-2%) of 1 of 10 different 
chemicals which are known attractants to muscoid flies (Mull a et al. 1977). The 
attractants were egg albumin, indole, egg aged 4 days, indole--trimethylamine mixture, 
ethol mercaptan, ammonium carbonate, butyaldehyde, indole--phenol mixture, 3 day 
aged yeast solution, and citrated blood. Carrion attractiveness may be enhanced by the 
addition of particular chemicals (Freney 1932). 
Six traps, each baited with a different rat solution, were positioned 50-70 m equidistant 
Il'\orthwest Mosquito Abatement District 147 W. Hintz Road, Wheeling, IL 60090 
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Baumgartner: Spring Season Survey of the Urban Blowflies (Diptera: Calliphorid
Published by ValpoScholar, 1988
120 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 21, NO.3 
at ca. 0900 hrs and retrieved at 1700 hrs daily for a 3 day period during 5 experimental 
series run throughout May under generally favorable environmental conditions (low wind 
& cloudless skies), with a monthly mean diurnal ambient temperature (0.5 m height) of 
22 3SC (15.4°C avo diel monthly, National Oceanic Atmospheric Admin., O'Hare 
Airport) and relative humidity of 57 ± 8%. Carrion alone and carrion in water were 
presented during all five series but each chemical additive was utilized only during two. 
Trapped flies were killed by freezing; sexed, enumerated, and identified following Hall 
(1948). Voucher specimens were deposited at the Field Museum of Natural History, 
Chicago, with the bulk in the author's collection. 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
During May 1,165 total blowflies among 12 species were recovered in 90 trap days in 
the Chicago area. Cynomyopsis cadaverina (R. -D.), Lucilia sericata (Mg.), and Phormia 
regina (Mg.) each comprised 46,29, and 17%, respectively, of all blowflies. Calliphora 
vicina R.-D., Calliphora livida Hall, and Lucilia illustris (Mg.) were rare (5, 1, & 1%, 
respectively), whereas Bufolucilia silvarum (Mg.), Calliphora vomitoria (L.), Calliphora 
terrae novae Macq., Lucilia coeruleiviridis (Macq.), Cyan us elongatus (Hough), and 
Protophormia terrae novae (R.-D.) were very scarce (each < 1%). May collections in 
New York City (Williams 1954) and Madison, Wisconsin (Dicke and Eastwood 1952) 
have yielded very similar species' percentages, although B. silvarum, C. elongatus, and 
C. livida were entirely absent at the former site. However, the abundance of C. 
cadaverina (46%) and P. regina (17%) herein reported differs greatly from a spring 
survey in nearby Indiana, where each species represented 9% and 59%, respectively, of 
the blowflies at a large city dump (Siverly 1970). This list augments Johnson (1970), who 
reported only 6 species in northeastern Illinois, and confirms the presence of an additional 
6 species. 
Cochliomyia lnacellaria (Fabr.) and Pollenia rudis (Fabr.) are two additional species in 
the author's collection and reported by Melnick (1949) from northern Illinois which were 
not obtained, likely because the former species i  a summer/fall immigrant from warmer 
southern states (Greenberg 1985) and the latter is not attracted to carrion (Hall 1948). It 
is also conceivable that Calliphora coloradensis Hough and Eucalliphora lilaea (Walker) 
may be infrequently taken in Illinois because of their presence in nearby Michigan 
(Williams 1956) and Wisconsin (Dicke and Eastwood 1952), respectively. Bufolucilia 
silvarum, C. terraenovae, C. vomitoria, and P. e r enovae were only trapped on baits 
immersed in rotten egg or indol-phenol solutions. No other chemical additives were 
detectibly more attractive than carrion alone. 
Calliphora vicina, L. sericata, and C. cadaverina were present in small numbers from 
the first day's collection on 7 May (l9°C max. temp.), P. regina and B. silvarum did not 
appear until 20 May (23°C max. temp.), and the remaining species appeared on 25 May 
(28°C max. temp.). Generally, fly diversity and abundance increased with the advance of
warmer weather. At this latitude (42°N) P. regina and C. vicina first appear yearly in early 
to mid-March; C. cadaverina, L. sericata, and C. livida in late March; P. terraenovae and 
C. terrae novae in late April; and the remainder in mid- to late May (Bruce and Knipling 
1936, Dicke and Eastwood 1952). 
The spring season collections herein reported agree in part with Johnson (1970, 1975), 
at a site 30 km fTom the present study, confirming the early abundance of P. regina 
followed by L. sericata, but differ markedly in the composition and phenology of all other 
species. Johnson reported C. livida to be the dominant spring fly with a complete absence 
of C. cadaverina. However, in this survey the former was rare and the latter common. 
Yearly climatic variation and differences in the synanthropy of the collection sites (forest 
vs. urban setting) may account for these discrepancies. Cynomyop is cadaverina may 
preferentially avoid forest habitats since it is reported to be an abundant fly in urban areas 
of 
Wisconsin (Dicke and Eastwood 1952), New York City (Williams 1954), and Ohio 
(Hall 1948). However, the Chicago collections generally agree with the phenology 
of 
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The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 21, No. 3 [1988], Art. 5
https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol21/iss3/5
1988 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 121 
these species in nearby states. Phormia r gina. C. cadave ina. and L. sericata are 
common spring species in the Central States (Bruce and Knipling 1936, Dicke and 
Eastwood 1952, Williams 1954, Siverly 1970). Populations of C. livida and C. vicina 
peak in April (Hall 1948) which accounts for their declining representation in this May 
survey. The rarity of B. silvarum, L. illustris, L. coeruleiviridis, C. vomitoria, C. 
terraenovae, C. elongatus, and P. erraenovae in metropolitan Chicago is not surprising 
because the former 3 are typically woodland or meadow species and the latter 4 are 
generally uncommon throughout their range (Hall 1948). 
In summary, this survey confirms the presence of 12 blowfly species in urban areas of 
northeastern Illinois and presents data on their relative spring abundanee. This informa­
tion contributes o our knowledge of these inseets in the state and adds to  informational 
base for use by forensic entomologists. 
LITERATURE CITED 
Bishopp, F. C. 1916. Fly traps and their operation. USDA Fatmers Bull. #734. 
Bruce, W. G. and E. F. Knipling. 1936. Seasonal appearance and relative abundance of flies 
attracted to baited traps. Iowa State J. Sci. 10:361-365. 
Dicke, R. J. and J. P. Eastwood. 1952. The seasonal incidence of blowflies at Madison, Wisconsin 
(Diptera-Calliphoridae). Trans. Wise. Acad. Sci., Arts & Letters 41:207-217. 
Freney, M. R. 1932. The chemical treatment of baits for attracting blowflies. Austr. Council for 
Scientific and Industrial Res. 5:94-97  
Greenberg, B. 1973. Flies and disease. VoL II. Princeton Univ. Press. 447 pp. 
___
.1985. Forensic entomology: case studies. Bull. Entomol. Soc. Am. 31(4):25-28. 
Hall, D. G. 1948. The blowflies 
of North America. Thomas Say Foundation. 477 pp. 
Johnson, M. D. 1970. The microseral and seasonal variations in the insect populations of the carrion 
microcommunity. Ph.D. thesis. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL. 271 pp. 
___
.1975. Season and microseral variations 
in the insect population on carrion. Am. MidI. Nat. 
93:79-90. 
Melnick, J. L. 1949. Isolation 
of poliomyelitis virus from single species of flies during an urban 
epidemic. A . J. Hyg. 49:8-16. 
Mulla, M. S., Y. S. Hwang, and H. Axelrod. 1977. Attractants for synanthropic flies: chemical 
attractants for domestic flies. J. Econ. Entomo!. 70:644-648. 
Siverly, R. E. 1970. Composition of domestic fly populations in Delaware County, Indiana. 
Proceed. Ind. Acad. Sci. 80:299-304. 
Smith, K. G. V. 1986. A manual of forensic entomology. Cornell Univ. Press, N.Y. 205 pp. 
Williams, R. W. 1954. A study of the filth-flies in New York City-1953. J. Econ. Entomol. 
47:556-563. 
___
.1956. Studies 
on the filth flies at the University of Michigan Biological Station, Douglas 
Lake, Michigan-summer 1954. Am. MidI. Nat. 55:126-130. 
3
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Spring Season Survey of the Urban Blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of Chicago, Illinois

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Spring Season Survey of the Urban Blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of Chicago, Illinois

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