Comparison of the sweeping net and bait method to access the species diversity of Calliphoridae (Insecta: Diptera) in Kashmir Himalaya, India

Abstract

Calliphoridae commonly known as blowflies, bluebottles, greenbottles, or carrion flies is a family of Diptera which are of immense importance in medical, veterinary, and forensic sciences. Many sampling methods are known for collecting blowflies but sweeping net is the most dominant method used for their collection. The present study compares sweep netting with the less common bait method and quantifies differences in species richness, Shannon's diversity, and Simpson's diversity using the Hill numbers approach. The sampling procedure yielded 2000 specimens out of which 744 were collected using a sweeping net method while as bait method yielded 1256 specimens belonging to 6 genera and 15 morphospecies, Lucilia sericata (Meigen 1826Meigen 1826) was reported as the most abundant species in sweeping net method while as Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy 1830 was reported as most abundant species collected through the bait method. This study will be useful for the methodology of future field surveys.