Species abundance and identification of forensically important flies of Saudi Arabia by DNA barcoding.

Journal Article

, Ashraf Mashaly, Reem Alajmi, Abd El-Zaher Mustafa, Ahmed Rady and Hussein Alkhedir . 2017

• Magazine \ Newspaper: Journal of Medical Entomology
• Issue Number: 4
• Volume Number: 54
• Pages: 837-843

Publication Abstract

Because they may demonstrate characteristics of the environment where a body has been laying prior to the
discovery, flies are insects of forensic interest. We investigated the fly abundance and the effect of location in
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on fly species diversity that attack decomposing human and animal remains. Using
baited traps deployed in each location, we collected 3,697 flies of seven species belonging to three families.
Chrysomya albiceps Wiedmann represented 60.86% of the collected flies, whereas Musca domestica L. represented
25.8%; the other species made up<6% each. To facilitate species identification by DNA barcoding, we
sequenced a 710-bp “Folmer region” of cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene for 22 samples from collection sites distributed through entire Saudi Arabia. The COI sequences from Musca albina Wiedmann, Musca
lucidula Loew, Musca calleva Walker, Musca sorbens Wiedmann, and Physiphora alceae Preyssler were obtained
for the first time. This primary study indicates that even when Folmer primers were widely used in DNA
barcoding, the Folmer’s region is not adequate when discriminating between Musca species, and sequencing
the whole COI or other genes is required for forensic purpose.