The role of pig manure‐derived gut microbiota in accelerating the growth and development of <i>Sarcophaga africa</i>

Exploring the impact of diet-derived gut microbiota on insect growth and development holds significant value not only for understanding the "diet-gut microbes-insects" interactions, but also for forensic entomology, as it lays the research foundation for clarifying the relationships among "cadavers-microbes-necrophagous insects". This study investigates the effects of pig manure-derived gut microbiota on the growth and development of Sarcophaga africa, a key necrophagous insect. Our findings demonstrate that, compared to pig lung, pig manure significantly increased larval amount without affecting adult eclosion rates, thereby facilitating laboratory population establishment and accelerating development. Through microbial sequencing, key target bacteria were identified and validated using quantitative detection and antibiotic interference experiments. The results highlight two critical aspects: first, dietary microbes play a central role in shaping the gut microbial community structure of larvae; second, gut microbes derived from pig manure, particularly Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, may enhance the developmental process of S. africa by directly increasing protein levels in 3rd instar larvae and indirectly reducing glycogen levels in late pupae. Additionally, developmental data for S. africa at 30 °C were obtained to establish reference values for forensic applications using necrophagous insects in postmortem interval estimation. These findings highlight the need for forensic entomologists to consider how microbial-driven developmental variations may affect the reliability of developmental data in such studies.