Carrion-breeding flies of Australia and New Zealand: A review and key to adults

Abstract

Carrion-breeding flies are diverse with over 70 species in the Australasian/Oceanian region, predominantly from the families Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae. These flies play crucial roles in ecosystems as primary decomposers, pollinators and food sources for a variety of predators and parasites. Given their unique ecologies and exceptional diversity, they have also proven to be particularly useful for human purposes in agriculture, in medicinal maggot therapy and in forensic entomology. Despite this, to date, there have been no comprehensive diagnostic tools developed for carrion-breeding flies in the Australasian region, which has hindered their use by non-experts in these applied fields. Here, we provide an updated key for the identification of the adults of over 70 species of Australian and New Zealand flies known or suspected to breed in carrion. We also provide a review of the current state of knowledge regarding the biology and taxonomy of carrion-breeding flies in the Australasian region—summarising over a century of information regarding their distributions, available molecular data, biology, developmental data and the morphology of immature stages. Together, these resources will greatly improve the application of these species in forensics, agriculture, medicine and empirical research.