Chrysomya rufifacies ( Macquart 1844 )

Stotelmyre, Lyle Magee, 2024, Blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of the Baja California Peninsula, Zootaxa 5468 (2), pp. 308-330 : 315

Chrysomya rufifacies ( Macquart 1844)

Lucilia orientalis Macquart, 1844: 145 . Junior synonym.

Lucilia rufifacies Macquart, 1844: 146 , original description, attributed to Guérin. Type Location: “Nouvelle Hollande ”.

Lucilia pavonina Schiner, 1868: 305 . Junior synonym.

Somomya melanifera Bigot, 1877b: 258 . Junior synonym.

Somomyia barbata Bigot, 1877a: 39 . Junior synonym.

Chrysomya cordieri Séguy, 1926: 303 . Junior synonym.

Distribution: Austral- Asian, Old-World tropics, California, and throughout the southern US. It is abundant locally in collections and expanding throughout Baja and Southern California.

Remarks: It was first collected in Baja on 20 February 1987 from a restaurant in the port city of La Paz, Baja California Sur, along with Chrysomya megacephala . (Greenberg). This is a warm weather fly. The female produces unisexual progeny, an unusual feature among the higher Diptera ( Baumgartner 1993) . Field studies show it prefers large carcasses. Forensically, the hairy maggot is one of the most reliable indicators of post-mortem time intervals in human cadavers ( Baumgartner 1993). Common name: Hairy Maggot Blow Fly.

Material examined: BAJA CALIFORNIA: (literature review): El Mogor, Punta Colonet, Sierra Juarez, Sierra San Pedro Martir , Santa Catarina, Cerro Santo Tomas, Rio Hardy , San Felipe, Punta Final, representative voucher specimens 2017–19 Ketzaly Munguia-Ortega ( ECSR) ; Mx-BC Ensenada , coastal sand dunes, bait trap R. norvegicus 8–15 Nov 2018 L. Stotelmyre ( SDM) ; BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR: (literature review): La Paz , Baja California Sur, 20 Feb 1987 B. Greenberg (depository unknown), ( Greenberg 1988); Mx-BCS Sierra San Francisco, San Gregorio, 18 Oct 1997 D.K. Faulkner ( SDM) ; Mx-BCS Las Gatas , Rancho San Martin, bait trap 12–16 Apr 2018 MA Wall, JE Berrian, L Stotelmyre ( SDM) ; Mx-BCS Loreto , bait trap 10–16 Jan 2019 L. Stotelmyre ( SDM) ; Mx-BCS El Triunfo , bait trap 10–16 Jan 2019 L. Stotelmyre ( SDM) ; Mx-BCS Cabo San Lucas , dead dog on road, 11 Jan 2019 L. Stotelmyre ( SDM) .