Forensic Implications of Biochemical Differences Among Geographic Populations of the Black Blow Fly, Phormia regina (Meigen)

Cuticular hydrocarbons were extracted from individual adult blow flies from three geographic populations of Phormia regina from areas near Tucannon River and Lyle Grove, Washington, and from Rensselaer, Indiana. The individual extracts were subjected to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and 22 hydrocarbons were identified. Discriminant analysis of the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles separated the flies according both to location and gender. These results have potential forensic applications in the determination of corpse relocation and in the study of the population ecology of species and populations.