Here’s a detailed overview of the Common Green Bottle Fly (Lucilia sericata), a widespread fly well-known in both medical and ecological contexts:

**Common Green Bottle Fly (Lucilia sericata)**

Taxonomy & Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Calliphoridae (blowflies)
Genus: Lucilia
Species: L. sericata

General Description

A medium-sized, metallic-green fly, easily recognized by its shimmering body and role in decomposition.

Size: 10–14 mm in length.
Coloration:
- Metallic green body, sometimes with bronze or copper reflections.
- Reddish compound eyes.
- Transparent wings, held roof-like over the body at rest.
Antennae: Short, three-segmented with an arista (hair-like structure).
Sexual Dimorphism: Males have eyes closer together than females.
Lifespan: Adults typically live 2–4 weeks.

Behavior & Lifestyle

Activity: Diurnal, most active in warm, sunny weather.
Flight: Strong fliers; capable of rapid dispersal in search of food or carrion.
Feeding:
- Adults feed on nectar, honeydew, carrion fluids, and waste.
- Larvae are saprophagous (feeding on decaying animal tissue) but may also infest living tissue (facultative myiasis).
Reproduction:
- Females lay eggs in wounds, carrion, dung, or decaying matter.
- Eggs hatch within 8–12 hours.
- Larvae (maggots) feed for ~3–7 days before pupating in soil.
- Complete life cycle: 2–3 weeks under warm conditions.

Habitat

Strongly associated with human-influenced habitats.
Found in:
- Urban areas (garbage, markets)
- Rural pastures
- Forest edges and meadows
Prefers warm, temperate to subtropical regions.

Geographic Range

Cosmopolitan distribution.
Found across Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Australasia.
One of the most abundant blowflies in the Northern Hemisphere.

Ecological & Human Importance

Decomposer: Plays a vital role in breaking down carrion and recycling nutrients.
Forensic Entomology: Used in estimating post-mortem intervals (time since death) based on maggot development stages.
Medical Relevance:
- Myiasis: Larvae can infest wounds or necrotic tissue in animals and occasionally humans.
- Maggot Therapy: Sterile larvae are deliberately used in medicine to clean chronic wounds and ulcers by eating dead tissue but sparing live tissue.
Agricultural Impact: Known pest of sheep, causing flystrike (cutaneous myiasis).

Special Adaptations

Acute Olfaction: Adults can detect the smell of carrion or wounds from long distances.
Rapid Development: Short life cycle allows populations to explode under favorable conditions.
Larval Mouth Hooks: Adapted for scraping and tearing dead flesh.

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List: Not evaluated (common and widespread).
Not considered threatened; often abundant to the point of being a nuisance.

Interesting Facts

Shimmering metallic colors are due to structural coloration, not pigments.
One of the first insects to arrive at a corpse, making it crucial in forensic science.
Used historically in folk medicine for wound cleaning, long before modern maggot therapy.
In warm weather, L. sericata can complete its entire life cycle in just 14 days.