EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CALLIPHORID FLY OF FORENSIC IMPORTANCE, Chrysomya rufifacies (MACQUART, 1842)

Chrysomya rufifacies,is one of the hairy maggot blowflies which feeds on carrion and completes its life cycle on carrion and hence is useful for PMI determination in forensic investigations. The life cycle duration and morphological parameters of Chrysomya rufifacies were studied in different seasons; Life cyclein rainy season was completed in 275 ± 2.27 hrs (11.46 ± 0.45 days), when the maximum temperature was 30.1°C and the minimum temperature was 26.2°C; in summer season when the maximum temperature was 37.2°C and the minimum temperature 30.1°C, the life cycle was completed in 241± 2.17 hrs (10.04 ± 0.12 days),while in winter season life cycle was completed in 318 ± 2.45hrs (13.25 ± 0.25 days) when themaximum and minimum temperatureswere 26.4°C and 18.2°C respectively. Thus temperature plays an important role in the development of C.rufifacies which should be considered during PMI determination. The morphological parameters of different stages differ from season to season. Larvae were healthy and bigger in size in rainy season but in summer were short and small sized.The size of larvae in winter season was also smaller than the size in both summer and rainy seasons.