A feature of blow fly biology leveraged in medicolegal forensic entomology is the group’s ability to locate and seek out available decomposing resources. This habit closely associates blow flies with the microbial community of filth environments resulting in the mechanical vectoring of microbes to novel locations. Previous research has demonstrated these flies’ ability to be used as chemical weapons sensors while their gut microbiome has been observed to be highly opportunistic. This ongoing research seeks to grow knowledge of blow fly mechanical vector ecology in agro-industrial landscapes. The overall research question is, can field and laboratory baseline data be used to trace the provenance of a forensically relevant simulated biocontamination event? First, a field survey using carrion traps was carried out over two years focused on areas representing marine agriculture, wastewater treatment, livestock farming and an urban landscape. Second, a randomized complete block design experiment is being conducted under incubator conditions using two blow fly species. Here the factors include water treatment (i.e., landscape type) and temperature while outcomes will be the gut microbiome by sex and species. Current data from the field survey did not identify any of the target microbes in blow flies, specifically Vibrio spp. at costal locations. Fly abundances were greater at inland trapping locations while the secondary screwworm Cochliomyia macellaria was most frequently trapped at one remote beach location. The goal of this research is to determine the viability of a scalable blow fly tool for public health and environmental forensics.
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