Optimization of a culture medium for 2 species of forensic interest: Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Megaselia scalaris (Diptera: Phoridae), through a bioinformatic and experimental approach

Forensic entomotoxicology studies require culture media that fulfill the nutritional needs of the relevant forensic species, enabling their proper growth and development from oviposition to maturity, while minimizing biases due to the presence of xenobiotics in tissues. This study aimed to optimize a culture medium for Megaselia scalaris (Diptera: Phoridae) (Loew, 1866) to enhance oviposition by this species. A bioinformatic approach was used to determine whether M. scalaris possesses homologs of the Ir76b receptor that is activated by putrescine and cadaverine and plays a role in food source identification in other species. Supplementing the media with these amines resulted in oviposition comparable to those observed in porcine tissue without adversely affecting the growth and development of other stages of the life cycle. The Ir76b receptor was also identified in Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) (Meigen, 1826), another species of forensic relevance. Optimized media similarly supported oviposition in L. sericata, suggesting the formulation’s broader applicability.