Sarcophaga (Bercaea) africa (Wiedemann)

Dowton, Mark & Pape, Thomas, 2013, A key to the Australian Sarcophagidae (Diptera) with special emphasis on Sarcophaga (sensu lato), Zootaxa 3680 (1), pp. 148-189 : 156

Sarcophaga (Bercaea) africa (Wiedemann)

(Figure 18a,b,c)

Musca africa Wiedemann, 1824

Morphological characters. Ground colour of male and female terminalia bright red or orange. Gena with setulae a mix of black and yellow/white. Generally, occiput with at least one row of black setulae behind the ocular setae, with setulae only yellow/white ventrally. However, some specimens with occiput with all setulae only yellow/ white. Prescutellar acrostichal setae absent or present. Proepisternum bare. 1st and 2nd abdominal sternites with short setulae in females, and males with long setulae on the hind tibia. Body length 5–10 mm.

Geographical distribution. Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia)—AUSTRALASIAN/OCEANIAN, AFROTROPICAL, NEARCTIC, NEOTROPICAL, ORIENTAL, PALAEARCTIC.

Biology. Sarcophaga africa is almost cosmopolitan, and is likely to have been introduced to Australia by humans ( Pape 1991). It is known to larviposit on faeces (even in the presence of carrion) ( Bänziger & Pape 2004). It has also been collected from baits consisting of either pieces of raw fish, cut segments of ripe fruit ( Carica papaya and Citrus sinensis ), decomposing matter and faeces ( Aspoas 1991; Pérez-Moreno et al. 2006) and at decayed-carrion baits by KAM. It is a known agent of myiasis ( Park 1977).

Taxonomy. This species is the only Australian representative of the subgenus Bercaea . DNA barcode sequences of S. africa have been deposited in both GenBank and BOLD.