A study on the egg development periods of forensically important species Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1890) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

In forensic entomology, which is one of the scientific fields used in the solving of suspicious death cases, the information obtained from the different stages of the development of insects is utilised to determine the time from the death of the victim to the moment of discovery. Egg development processes of insects of forensic importance are used as one of the mentioned sources of information. Due to the various morphological characters that occur in the egg during the development process, it can be determined at which stage of development the egg is in and an estimate can be made about the time elapsed in determining the post-mortem interval (PMI). In this study, the egg development of the forensically important Calliphora vicina species on Hacettepe University Beytepe Campus was examined at 25°C and morphological changes during this process were detected and discussed. When compared with the results of a similar study conducted in the United Kingdom, some differences were found. The most important of these was a 2-hour difference in egg hatching times between the populations of the two countries.