Wing Morphometric Analysis of Some Species of The Genus Sarcophaga (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) in Egypt

Species of the genus Sarcophaga have significant medical, veterinary, and forensic importance. They can act as mechanical carriers of enteropathogens in humans, cause myiasis in cattle, and aid in determining human remains and the Post-Mortem Interval (PMI) in forensic cases. Therefore, accurate identification of flesh fly species is crucial. Despite their importance, adult Sarcophaga species are difficult to identify correctly due to their similar appearances, with species identification typically relying on the morphology of male genitalia. In this study, we conducted wing morphometric analysis on 92 flesh fly specimens, comprising 12 species from Egypt. Each specimen's right wing was removed, photographed, mounted on a microscope slide, and digitized using 19 landmarks. The study analyzed the wing shape variation among different subgenera and species through canonical variate analysis, which separated the subgenera into distinct groups with a high percentage of correct classification. The analysis also showed some overlaps in wing shape among species within each subgenus, and most comparisons resulted in a high percentage of correct classification, except for S. jacobsoni and S. mennae. The phylogenetic tree based on the wing morphology of species largely placed each species into its respective subgenus. Our findings suggest that wing shape can serve as a reliable tool for distinguishing between different subgenera and species of flesh flies. This research provides valuable insights into improving the identification process of these important insects.