Madeira: Galhano 3 (20 females); Montado dos Pessegueiros 2 (1 female); Montado dos Pessegueiros 3 (3 females).

Calliphora loewi is a carrion-breeder present in the Holarctic and in a small part of the Oriental Region (Schumann 1986, Verves 2005). It is found in forests of northern and central Europe (Smith 1986, Byrd and Castner 2010), being common in alpine regions. In North America it is found in Alaska, Canada and in the northern continental United States (Rognes 1991, Tantawi et al. in press). Throughout its range, this species is generally not found in urban and disturbed areas (Byrd and Castner 2010). Although widespread, C. loewi is rarely recorded, and usually in low abundance, in carcasses of large vertebrates, demonstrating a preference for small animal remains (Szpila et al. 2014). In Madeira, C. loewi is restricted to a few native forest areas at high altitude (1000–1300 m) (Fig. 1). This species was recently collected for the first time in Madeira (Prado e Castro et al. 2016).

Figure 2. 

Diagnostically important characters of Madeiran blowflies (Diptera, Calliphoridaes. l.): A Chrysomya albiceps, basal part of wing, dorsal surface, showing haired stem vein B Stomorhina lunata, basal part of wing, dorsal surface, showing haired stem vein C Calliphora vicina, basal part of wing, dorsal surface, showing bare stem vein D Calliphora vomitoria, thorax, upper and lower calypters E Lucilia sericata, thorax, upper and lower calypters F Stomorhina lunata, female, head, lateral view G Chrysomya albiceps, female, head, lateral view H Chrysomya megacephala, female, head, lateral view I Calliphora vicina, female, head, lateral view J Calliphora loewi, female, head, lateral view K Calliphora vomitoria, female, head, lateral view L Lucilia sericata, female, head, lateral view M Pollenia rudis, female, head, lateral view N Pollenia rudis, thorax, upper and lower calypters O Pollenia pediculata, basal part of wing, ventral surface, showing haired node of subcostal and humeral veins P Pollenia rudis, basal part of wing, ventral surface, showing bare node of subcostal and humeral veins Q Pollenia angustigena, mid tibia R Pollenia rudis, mid tibia. Abbreviations: ad, anterodorsal seta; ant spir, anterior spiracle; eh, eye height; gen dil, genal dilation; gdh, genal dilation height; lfm, lower facial margin; low cal, lower calypter; p pl, parafacial plate; psg, postgena; sc-h n, node subcosta-humeral vein.

Figure 3. 

Habitus in antero-lateral view of Madeiran blowflies: A Calliphora loewi B Calliphora vicina C Calliphora vomitoria D Chrysomya albiceps E Chrysomya megacephala F Lucilia sericata G Pollenia rudis H Stomorhina lunata.

Figure 4. 

First instar larva of Calliphora loewi from Madeira: A Habitus in lateral view B Cephaloskeleton in lateral view C Anterior part of cephaloskeleton in lateral view. Abbreviations: a1-a7, abdominal segments; ad, anal division; db, dorsal bridge; dc, dorsal cornua; is, intermediate sclerite; lb, labrum; mh, mouthhook; pb, parastomal bar; pc, pseudocephalon; t1-t3, thoracic segments.

Madeira: Abobreiras (1 female); Achadas da Cruz (1 male); Calheta 1 (1 female); Calheta 2 (1 female); Ponta de São Lourenço E (1 male); Ilhéu do Farol (1 male); Funduras (1 female); Galhano 1 (1 female); Miradouro das Voltas 1 (1 female); Miradouro das Voltas 2 (1 female); Miradouro das Voltas Ps (1 female); Miradouro das Voltas Seq (2 females); Montado dos Pessegueiros 2 (1 female, 1 male); Montado dos Pessegueiros 3 (1 female, 2 males); Pico das Pedras L (1 female); Pico das Pedras Ps (2 females); Portela (1 female); Porto Moniz (2 females); Ribeira da Cruz (1 female); Santana (1 female); PORTO SANTO: Ilhéu da Cal S (1 female, 1 male); Fonte da Areia (1 female, 1 male); Pico Ana Ferreira (7 females, 1 male); Pico do Facho Cup (1 female); Pico Juliana (1 female); DESERTAS: Bugio N (12 females, 5 males); Bugio S (7 females, 1 male); Ilhéu Chão N (1 female, 1 male).

Calliphora vicina is a cosmopolitan species, widely distributed all over the world and closely connected with human activity (Zumpt 1965, Greenberg 1971, González-Mora 1989, Martínez-Sánchez et al. 2002), being commonly found in urban areas (Erzinçlioglu 1985, Rognes 1998, Szpila et al. 2014). The adults are attracted to faeces, meat and fruits, while the larvae are mainly necrophagous, usually developing in carrion (Zumpt 1965, Greenberg 1971). This species is widespread in a variety of habitat types in the Madeira Archipelago (Table 1).

Madeira: Bica da Cana (1 female).

This common carrion-breeder is distributed throughout the Holarctic Region and is also present in the Oriental and Australasian regions (Erzinçlioglu 1985). It is more rural in its distribution than C. vicina (Smith 1986), frequenting natural and cultivated forests and showing a preference for more shaded habitats (Szpila et al. 2014). Calliphora vomitoria was found only in Madeira, in a pine plantation with low human disturbance.

Porto Santo: Ilhéu do Farol S (1 female).

Chrysomya albiceps can be found from the southern Palaearctic Region (southern Europe, Arabia, India) through to Africa (Zumpt 1965) and the Americas, where since its introduction it has rapidly expanded north (Guimarães et al. 1978, Baumgartner and Greenberg 1984). In Europe it is very abundant in the Iberian Peninsula (Martínez-Sánchez et al. 2002, Prado e Castro et al. 2012) and is expanding towards central Europe, having reached France, Switzerland and Austria (Grassberger et al. 2003), the Ukraine (Verves 2004) and Poland, from where its current northernmost records are known (Szpila et al. 2008, Michalski and Szpila in press). Our record from Ilhéu do Farol is the first for Porto Santo. Chrysomya albiceps normally breeds in carrion; newly-hatched first instar larvae feed on exudations of decomposing flesh, but the second and third larval stages are facultative predators, feeding also on the larvae of other blowfly species (Zumpt 1965).

Madeira: Funchal (Báez 1990).

Chrysomya megacephala is widely distributed over the Oriental and Australasian regions, also occurring in many neighbouring parts of the Palaearctic Region (Zumpt 1965). It was introduced in South America (Guimarães et al. 1978), probably from southern Africa (Baumgartner and Greenberg 1984), and into the United States (Greenberg 1988). In Europe it is known from Spain (Martínez-Sánchez et al. 2001), Portugal (Prado e Castro and García 2009), Malta (Ebejer 2007) and from the archipelagos of Madeira (Báez 1990) and the Canaries (Báez et al. 1981). Chrysomya megacephala is normally a faeces and carrion breeder (Zumpt 1965), considered a dangerous dipteran vector of pathogens (Wells 1991) and a major pest of fish products (Wall et al. 2001).

Madeira: Dunas da Piedade (1 male); Ilhéu do Farol (1 female); Porto Santo: Ilhéu da Cal S (1 male); Ilhéu do Farol N (1 female, 5 males); Ilhéu do Farol S (2 females); Ilhéu do Ferro (1 female); Desertas: Bugio N (130 females, 30 males); Bugio S (116 females, 34 males); Castanheira N (13 females, 5 males); Castanheira S (3 females); Doca (10 females, 5 males); Eira (1 female); Ilhéu Chão N (1 female); Ilhéu Chão S (1 female).

A very common fly in temperate areas of the Holarctic Region (Zumpt 1965). It is practically cosmopolitan, widespread throughout the major zoogeographical regions (Smith 1986, Rognes 1991), and is directly connected to human activity (Martínez-Sánchez et al. 2002). Lucilia sericata was found in all island groups of the Madeira Archipelago where it was occasionally recorded in high abundance. The adults are attracted mainly to carrion or open wounds (usually with necrotic tissues) (Zumpt 1965).

Madeira: Madeira (Rognes 1987).

This species is cited from most countries of Europe and from the Nearctic Region (Rognes 1991). In Europe, P. angustigena can be found from the southern parts of Norway and Finland to Italy and the Iberian Peninsula (Martínez-Sánchez et al. 2002). In the Iberian Peninsula the species seems to be restricted to high altitudes (from 300 m to above 1200 m) (Martínez-Sánchez et al. 1998). No specimens were caught in this study but the species was previously cited from Madeira (Rognes 1987, Martínez-Sánchez and Rognes 2008). Adults of this fly are active mostly from March to October with peaks in early spring in the northern parts of its range (Rognes 1991). As the rest of Pollenia spp., it is a predator on earthworm species (Rognes 1987). The egg and first instar larva of this species were described by Grzywacz et al. (2012) and Szpila (2003), respectively, and their morphology is significantly different compared to that of necrophagous blowflies.

Madeira: Madeira (Rognes 1987).

This species is distributed throughout most zoogeographical regions, being widespread in Europe. Pollenia pediculata was first cited from Madeira by Rognes (1987), but no specimens were obtained in the present study. The adults are active mainly in summer (Martínez-Sánchez et al. 2001). The larvae are predators on earthworms, including the lumbricid Eisenia rosea (Savigny) (Rognes 1987). The early immature stages were described by Szpila (2003) and Grzywacz et al. (2012).

Madeira: Parque eólico (2 females); Ponta de São Lourenço W (1 female); Porto Santo: Pico Branco Cup (6 females); Pico Branco mead (4 females); Pico do Castelo (4 females).

This is the most common species in the genus, being widespread in the Palaearctic, Nearctic and Oriental regions. In Porto Santo it was found in different habitat types (Table 1). Pollenia rudis uses earthworms as larval hosts and is active all year round, particularly during spring (Rognes 1987, Martínez-Sánchez et al. 1998). The immature stages were described by Yahnke and George (1972), Szpila (2003) and Grzywacz et al. (2012).

Madeira: Bica da Cana (2 females); Loreto (3 females); Prazeres (1 female); Parque eólico (1 female); Ponta de São Lourenço W (1 female); Porto Santo: Ilhéu da Cal N (4 females); Ilhéu da Cal S (2 females); Ilhéu do Ferro (1 female); Fonte da Areia (7 females); Pico do Facho Pin (1 female); Desertas: Castanheira N (1 female).

Stomorhina lunata is distributed almost worldwide, being absent only from the Neotropical and Australasian regions (Rognes 2013). It is common in Europe including all of the Mediterranean area, and is widely distributed throughout the Iberian Peninsula (González-Mora and Peris 1988). It is known as a predator on egg-masses of the locust Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål, 1775) (Rognes 1998) and a parasite in nests of ants (Bharti and Bharti 2016). Adults are commonly found on flowers (González-Mora and Peris 1988).

Madeira: Galhano 3 (15 first instar larvae). The first instar larvae (Fig. 4A) were obtained from 13 gravid females collected in Galhano (Prado e Castro et al. 2016).

The first instar larvae of C. loewi from Madeira possess the general habitus characteristic of most Calyptratae, being divided into a bilobed pseudocephalon (pc), three thoracic segments (t1–t3), seven abdominal segments (a1–a7), and an anal division (ad) that carries the posterior spiracles.

Body length: 1.4–5.1 mm. Pseudocephalon. Antennal complex with small antennal dome situated on basal ring, antennal dome slightly longer than height of basal ring; maxillary palpus located on anterior surface of pseudocephalic lobe and readily visible under a light microscope as a flat disc clearly distinguished from the surrounding cuticular surface; oral ridges present from lateral margins of functional mouth opening to ventral and lateral surfaces of pseudocephalon; functional mouth opening with two lateral tufts of numerous cirri. Cephaloskeleton. As in other necrophagous blowflies; consisting of unpaired labrum (lb), paired mouthhooks (mh), unpaired and H-shaped intermediate sclerite (is) and basal sclerite with parastomal bars (pb), vertical plates (vp) and ventral and dorsal cornua (vc, dc) (Figs 4B, C); each mouthhook an L-shaped bar, with tip equipped with 6 strong, pointed teeth directed ventrally, teeth arranged in one row with one tooth situated in front of row (well visible in ventral view); basal part of mouthhook also strongly sclerotized and equipped with a lateral arm (Figs 4B, C); labrum with readily differentiated sharp and curved apical part, ventral incision separating apical and basal parts of labrum indistinct (Fig. 4C); epistomal sclerite [“posterior expansion of labrum” in Szpila et al. (2014)] flat in lateral view (Fig. 4C); parastomal bars (pb) long and slender; intermediate sclerite (is) and crossbeam of intermediate sclerite broad; vertical plate (vp) as broad as width of ventral cornua (Fig. 4B); dorsal cornua slightly longer than ventral cornua (Fig. 4B); dorsal bridge present (Fig. 4B). Thoracic segments Anterior spinose band on first thoracic segment broad (Fig. 4A), with spines arranged in 5–7 rows dorsally and 12–14 rows ventrally; anterior spinose bands of second and third thoracic segments with homogenous conical, slightly flattened spines, tip of spines slightly curved. Abdominal segments. Anterior spinose bands complete on segments a1–a5, narrowly interrupted dorsally on segment a6; segment a7 with anterior spinose band on ventral and ventro-lateral surfaces and with several spines on lateral surface; posterior spinose band on segment a1 reduced to two small groups of spines situated ventro-laterally, on a2 posterior spines only on ventral and ventro-lateral surfaces, segment a3 with narrow posterior spinose band interrupted dorsally, segments a4–a7 with complete posterior spinose band. Anal division. Anal pads rounded and slightly protruding, anal tuft with several spines dorsally; circle of hair-like spines around spiracular field complete; anterior spinose band developed only on ventral and ventro-lateral surfaces.

The comparison of first instar larval specimens from Madeira with the original description (Erzinçlioğlu 1985) points to several discrepancies. Erzinçlioğlu (1985) described the anterior spinose band on a5 of Calliphora loewi as interrupted dorsally. Szpila et al. (2014) used this character for separation of C. loewi larvae from those of C. vicina and Cynomya mortuorum (Linnaeus, 1761), where the anterior spinose band on a5 is complete. However, the first instar larvae of C. loewi from Madeira also possess a complete anterior spinose band on a5. This character seems to be variable and cannot be treated as reliable. Serious discrepancies between the material from Madeira and the British larvae studied by Erzinçlioğlu (1985) were also found in the morphology of the labrum in the cephaloskeleton. Larvae from Madeira possess a massive labrum with broad basal part and well differentiated apical part. Additionally, the apical part of the labrum is noticeably curved downward. The cephaloskeleton of C. loewi larvae in the schematic illustration provided by Erzinçlioğlu (1985, fig. 28) possesses an elongated labrum (labelled as “median tooth”), without clear differentiation between an apical part and a basal part. Unfortunately, at this stage it is not possible to state that these differences between Madeira specimens and the original description result from interpopulation variation or inaccuracy of observation, as the larval material analyzed for the original description is unavailable (Szpila et al. 2013). Future studies on the variation of C. loewi larval morphology across the species distribution range will help to clarify this issue.