Key to the identification of forensically important blowflies of the Middle East.

1. Stem-vein without row of hairs above … 2

– stem-vein with row of hairs above (Fig. 1a) … 3 (Chrysomyinae)

2. Lower calypter with hairs on dorsal surface; thorax nonmetallic, dark and dusted (Fig. 1b) … 13 (Calliphorinae)

– lower calypter without hairs on dorsal surface; thorax bright green metallic, rarely bluish or cuprous (Fig. 1c) … 15 (Luciliinae)

3. Greater ampulla with stiff erect hairs (Fig. 1d); dorsal surface of lower calypter with dense hairs (Fig. 1d) … 4 ( Chrysomya spp.)

– greater ampulla bare or with short fine hairs (Fig. 1e); dorsal surface of lower calypter bare or with a few pale hairs (Fig. 1e) … 12

4. Anterior spiracle dark, brownish (Fig. 1f, i) … 5

– anterior spiracle bright, white-yellowish (Figs 1d, k; 2g) … 8

5. Surface of genal dilation and postgena fuscous, with black hairs (Fig. 1f) … 6

– surface of genal dilation and postgena bright, orange-yellowish, with yellow hairs (Fig. 1i) … 7

6. Basal part of upper calypter clearly bright, almost white; remaining part of upper calypter and lower calypter dirtywhite (Fig. 1g) … Chrysomya phaonis Séguy, 1928 Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in south-east Iran.

– basal part of upper calypter dark gray; remaining part of upper calypter and lower calypter dark brownish (Fig. 1h) … Chrysomya pinguis (Walker, 1858) Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in south-east Iran.

7. Lower calypter white, with yellowish fringe (Fig. 1d) … Chrysomya bezziana Villeneuve, 1914 Distribution: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. Possible occurrence in all countries of the Middle East.

– lower calypter brownish and darkened (Fig. 1i) … Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794) Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. Possible occurrence in all countries of the Middle East.

8. Anterior wing margin strongly darkened (Fig. 1j) … Chrysomya marginalis (Wiedemann, 1830) Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Israel, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates. Possible occurrence in all countries of the Middle East.

– anterior wing margin transparent … 9

9. Katepisternal setae 0 + 1 (Fig. 1k); all hairs on surface of tergite V black … Chrysomya nigripes Aubertin, 1932 Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in south-east Iran.

– katepisternal setae 1+1 (Fig. 1i); at least some hairs on lateral surfaces of tergite V white (Fig. 2d) … 10

10. Dorsal part of thorax with conspicuous dusting (Fig. 2a); black transverse marginal abdominal bands on abdominal segment III broad, even up to one-half of tergite length (Fig. 2b); posterior edge of tergite V of female entire, without incision (Fig. 2b) … Chrysomya putoria (Wiedemann, 1830) Distribution: Saudi Arabia (?). Records of Büttiker et al. (1979) and Abouzied (2014) of " Chrysomya chloropyga " most likely refer to Ch. putoria . Possible occurrence in countries of Arabic Peninsula. Reliable keys for identification of both species are provided by Rognes and Paterson (2005) and Irish et al. (2014).

– dorsal part of thorax shiny, with little dusting (Fig. 2c); black transverse marginal abdominal bands on abdominal segments III and IV very narrow, up to about a quarter on segment III and usually not more than about one sixth in segment IV (Fig. 2d); posterior edge of tergite V of female with crevice/incision (Fig. 2d) … 11

11. Third antennal segment wholly dark, blackish-brownish (Fig. 2e); proepimeral seta absent (Fig. 1d) (rarely present on one or both sides) … Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) Distribution: Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Turkey. Possible occurrence in all countries of the Middle East.

– third antennal segment pale brown-reddish on inner surface (Fig. 2f); proepimeral seta present (Fig. 2g) … Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart, 1843) Distribution: Iran, Pakistan.

12. Upper and lower calypters bright, white to yellowish (Fig. 1e); anterior spiracle yellowish (Fig. 1e) … Phormia regina (Meigen, 1826) Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in Turkey and north-west Iran.

– upper and lower calypters dark brown, especially on rim (Fig. 2h); anterior spiracle dark brown (Fig. 2h) … Protophormia terraenovae (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830) Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in Turkey and north-west Iran.

13. One pair of acrostichal setae on postsutural surface of thorax (Fig. 2i); abdomen shining blue without dusting; cerci of male genitalia short, surstyli much larger in form of long slightly curved rods (Fig. 2j) … Cynomya mortuorum (Linnaeus, 1761) Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in Turkey and north-west Iran.

– Three pairs of acrostichal setae on postsutural surface of thorax (Fig. 2k); abdomen shining blue with white dusting; cerci and surstyli almost the same length … 14 ( Calliphora spp.)

14. facial ridges, mouth edge, and anterior part of genal dilation yellowish-red (Fig. 2l); hairs on genal dilation and postgena black (Fig. 2l); anterior spiracle yellow (Fig. 2l) … Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830) Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen. Possible occurrence in all countries of the Middle East.

– facial ridges, mouth edge, and anterior part of genal dilation black (Fig. 2m); hairs on posterior part of genal dilation and postgena orange (Fig. 2m); anterior spiracle brownish-black (Fig. 2m) … Calliphora vomitoria (Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution: Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey.

15. Katatergite bare or pubescent (Fig. 3h, i) … 16 ( Lucilia spp.)

– katatergite with long, upstanding fine hairs (Fig. 2n) … 23 ( Hemipyrellia spp.)

16. Basicosta bright yellow (Fig. 3a) … 17

– basicosta brown or black (Fig. 3e) … 18

17. Posterior slope of humeral callus with 6–8 hairs (Fig. 3a); surface of notopleuron between last notopleural seta and edge of notopleuron with 8–16 hairs (Fig. 3a); central occipital area with 2–8 setulae (rarely 1) below each inner vertical seta (Fig. 3c) … Lucilia sericata (Meigen, 1826) Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen. Possible occurrence in all countries of the Middle East.

– posterior slope of humeral callus with 0–4 hairs (Fig. 3b); surface of notopleuron between last notopleural seta and edge of notopleuron with 2–5 hairs (Fig. 3b); central occipital area with one setula (rarely 0 or 2) below each inner vertical seta (Fig. 3d) … Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann, 1830) Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Turkey. Possible occurrence in all countries of the Middle East.

18. Three pairs of acrostichal setae on postsutural area of thorax (like on Fig. 2k); ventral surface of subcostal sclerite without black setulae; palpi brown to black (Fig. 3f) … Lucilia silvarum (Meigen, 1826) Distribution: Iran, Israel.

– Two pairs of acrostichal setae on postsutural area of thorax; ventral surface of subcostal sclerite with black setulae near apex (Fig. 3e); palpi yelloworange (Fig. 3g) … 19

19. Coxopleural streak absent (Fig. 3i) … 20

– coxopleural streak present (Fig. 3h) … 21

20. Calypters white to light brown, with white at least along the rim of upper calypter (Fig. 3j); tibia of legs black; body usually green … Lucilia ampullacea Villeneuve, 1922 Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in Turkey and north-west Iran.

– calypters light brown to brown, with at least the rim of upper calypter brownish (Fig. 3k); tibia of legs orange-brownish; body usually bluish-purple … Lucilia porphyrina (Walker, 1856) Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in south-east Iran.

21. At least lower calypter brown (Fig. 3l); abdominal segments III and IV with dark marginal band (resembling bands present in Chrysomya spp.) (Fig. 3l) … Lucilia papuensis Macquart, 1843 Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in south-east Iran.

– lower calypter white, sometimes slightly darkened but never brown (Fig. 1c); abdominal segments III and IV with without dark marginal band … 22

22. Male: epandrium large and swollen (Fig. 3m); surstyli stout, abruptly narrowed at tip (Fig. 3m); female: tergite VI convex in lateral view (Fig. 3n) … Lucilia caesar (Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen. Possible occurrence in mountain zone of Pakistan.

– male: epandrium of normal size (Fig. 3o); surstyli slender, gradually tapered to sharp tip (Fig. 3o); female: tergite VI straight in lateral view (Fig. 3p) … Lucilia illustris (Meigen, 1826) Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen.

23. Third antennal segment dark, slightly orange at the base (Fig. 2o) … Hemipyrellia ligurriens (Wiedemann, 1830) Distribution: Pakistan. Possible occurrence in south-east Iran.

– third antennal segment entirely orange (Fig. 2p) … Hemipyrellia pulchra (Wiedemann, 1830) Distribution: Egypt, Pakistan. Possible occurrence in southern Middle East.