Krzysztof Szpila

Nicolaus Copernicus University | umk · Department of Ecology and Biogeography

The Canary Islands are an excellent natural laboratory for understanding ecological and evolutionary processes such as biogeographical colonisation. The morphology of the larva, puparium and adult of the endemic Canarian copper fly, Calliphora splendens , is described, illustrated and contrasted with those of the other species of Calliphora that oc...

Recent studies on oestroidean Diptera (Brachycera) are providing a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the evolutionary history of this remarkably diverse clade of holometabolous insects. The Oestroidea, which includes formidable pests such as various blowflies, botflies, and flesh flies that infest livestock, pets and humans, are mostly com...

This paper provides comprehensive data on the life history of Oxybelus trispinosus (Fabricius, 1787). Female individuals of this species supply approximately 3-4 flies per cell as a food source for their larvae. The collected prey includes specimens of four Diptera families: Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae, and Tachinidae. Nests are construc...

The muscid genus Achanthiptera Rondani (Diptera: Muscidae) was classified within its own subfamily Achanthipterinae for decades due to a misinterpretation of adult morphology. Conversely, the larval morphology suggested that Achanthiptera should be classified within Azeliinae, yet no formal changes were implemented based on this source of data. Usi...

The study aimed to analyze the entomological material collected during 13 autopsies performed on the unidentified cadavers revealed at different stages of decay in the Upper Silesia Region (Poland) over 2016-2022. During the preparation of human tissues for genetic identification, we revealed larvae, puparia, and adult insects in previously undescr...

The 15th Dipterological Conference and the XLI Meeting of the Dipterological Section of the Polish Entomological Society was held on April 21st-23rd 2023 in Słopnice, in the Beskid Wyspowy (Island Beskids) in the Polish Carpathians. During this meeting, participants collected or photographed 76 species of flies, identified within 30 families. Among...

First instar larvae of the genera Hoplacephala Macquart, 1846 and Lamprometopia Macquart, 1846 are described for the first time, along with the first instar larva of an Afrotropical species of the genus Phylloteles Loew, 1844. Their morphology is analyzed using a combination of various microscopy techniques, confirming their close phylogenetic affi...

So far, there has been no information of the pre-imaginal stages in the well-preserved fossil record of the Mecoptera. The first and well-preserved mecopteran larva was discovered in Eocene Baltic amber. The application of synchrotron X-ray microtomography enabled the reconstruction of the body structure with high accuracy, providing a comprehensiv...

Current knowledge of the global diversity of schizophoran flies, the megadiverse group that evolved during the episode of rapid dipteran radiations in the Early Cenozoic, is far from satisfactory. A significant part of this radiation is flesh flies (Sarcophagidae), which include about 3000 known species. Miltogramma Meigen, the largest genus of the...

The Miltogramminae (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) includes 600 species across >40 genera, which constitute 20% of global Sarcophagidae. While molecular phylogenetic hypotheses have been produced for this group, critical problems persist, including the presence of paraphyletic genera, uncertain relationships between genera, a bias of sampling towards Pala...

The enigmatic larvae of the Old World genus Passeromyia Rodhain & Villeneuve, 1915 (Diptera: Muscidae) inhabit the nests of birds as saprophages or as haemato-phagous agents of myiasis among nestlings. Using light microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, we provide the first morphological descriptions of the...

The muscid genera Alluaudinella Giglio-Tos, 1895, Aethiopomyia Malloch, 1921 and Ochromusca Malloch, 1927 form a monophyletic group supported by immature and adult morphology and a highly specialised snail-feeding strategy of immature stages. In contrast to the undoubted monophyly of the Alluaudinella-Aethiopomyia-Ochromusca clade, previous studies...

The paper presents new data on the nesting habits of the digger wasp Alysson spinosus (Hymenoptera: Bembicidae). As food for larvae, the female provisioned about 7–8 hemipteran nymphs or imagines per cell. The collected prey belongs to two families of true hoppers (five species of Delphacidae and one species of Cicadellidae). Nests are built in san...

The Polleniidae (Diptera) are a family of flies best known for species of the genus Pollenia, which overwinter inside human dwellings. Previously divided across the Cal-liphoridae, Tachinidae and Rhinophoridae, the polleniid genera have only recently been united. Several studies have utilized molecular data to analyse polleniid phylo-genetic relati...

Europejska fauna Calliphoridae obejmuje jedynie dwa gatunki z rodzaj Chrysomya Robineau-Desvoidy, licznie reprezentowanego w tropikach Starego Świata. Spośród nich stałym elementem fauny krajów śródziemnomorskich i Półwyspu Bałkańskiego jest Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann). Do końca XX wieku muchówka ta bywała sporadycznie notowana także w cieplejsz...

The flesh flies are a group of insects well known for their forensic importance. Reliable identification of these flies relies on the use of either molecular markers or the morphology of the male genital apparatus. Identification of female flesh flies is more time consuming and less reliable than their male counterparts. This is particularly proble...

Multi-kingdom community complexity and the chemically mediated dynamics between bacteria and insects have recently received increased attention in carrion research. However, the strength of these inter-kingdom interactions and the factors that regulate them are poorly studied. We used 75 piglet cadavers across three forest regions to survey the rel...

Cluster flies of the genus Pollenia are known as mass invaders of human dwellings, but are important plant pollinators in the temperate climatic zone. Despite being the most species-rich and widespread genus in Polleniidae, no study to date has tested infrageneric relationships using molecular data. Here we use three molecular markers, COI, Ef-1α a...

Cluster flies of the genus Pollenia are known as mass invaders of human dwellings, but are important plant pollinators in the temperate climatic zone. Despite being the most species-rich and widespread genus in Polleniidae, no study to date has tested infrageneric relationships using molecular data. Here we use three molecular markers, COI, Ef-1α a...

Insect sensory systems are the subjects of different selective pressures that shape their morphology. In many species of the flesh fly subfamily Miltogramminae (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) that are kleptoparasitic on bees and wasps, females perch on objects close to the host nests and, once a returning host is detected, they follow it in flight at a fi...

Sexual conflict - opposite reproductive/genetic interests between sexes - can be a significant driver of insect evolution. Scorpionflies (Insecta: Mecoptera) are models in sexual conflict research due to their large variety of mating practices, including coercive behaviour and nuptial gift provisioning. However, the role of palaeontology in sexual...

Protomiltogramma Townsend is the largest and most diverse genus of miltogrammine flesh flies in Australia. However, no comprehensive taxonomic work had been completed on the Australian members of this genus in almost a century. This study presents the first taxonomic revision of all Australian species of Protomiltogramma (Sarcophagidae: Miltogrammi...

Application of available keys to European Fanniidae did not facilitate unequivocal species identification for third instar larvae and females of Fannia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 collected during a study of arthropod succession on pig carrion. To link these samples to known species, we took the advantage of molecular identification methods and compare...

The only European Stratiomyidae species known for feeding on human corpses was the black soldier fly Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758). Analysis of fauna found on a human corpse, discovered in central Poland, revealed the presence of feeding larvae of another species from this family: the twin-spot centurion fly Sargus bipunctatus (Scopoli, 1763)....

The first instar larva of a species of the Australian endemic genus Aenigmetopia Malloch is described for the first time, along with the first instar larvae of three other Australian species representing the genera Amobia Robineau-Desvoidy and Protomiltogramma Townsend. Larval morphology was analysed using a combination of light microscopy, confoca...

The first comprehensive information on the bionomics of the digger wasp Oxybelus variegatus Wesmael, 1852 is presented. Females nested in small aggregations in crevices between paving stones of a frequently used pedestrian pathway in lowland agricultural wasteland. Nests were dug in the ground using mandibles, legs and abdomen. The nest consists of...

A taxonomic revision of the Australian species of Amobia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Diptera: Sarcophagidae: Miltogramminae) is completed using an integrated approach combining four molecular loci (three mitochondrial, COI, ND4 and CYTB; one nuclear, EF1α) and morphological data. A new species, Amobia (s. str.) serpenta sp. nov., endemic to Australia,...

Aenigmetopia Malloch is the only endemic genus of miltogrammine flesh flies (Diptera : Sarcophagidae) in Australia and, until now it has been known from a single species, A. fergusoni Malloch. This study constitutes the first comprehensive taxonomic revision of Aenigmetopia. Four new species, Aenigmetopia amissa, sp. nov., A. corona, sp. nov., A. k...

Purpose. To report a case of massive orbital myiasis caused by the larvae of Sarcophaga argyrostoma, complicating eyelid malignancy. Observations. A 98-year-old man first presented to our clinic noted to have a fast-growing lesion on his right upper and lower eyelids. Squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelids was highly suspected, and surgical excisio...

Sphecapatoclea excisa Villeneuve, 1909, the type species of the Palaearctic genus Sphecapatoclea Villeneuve, 1909, is redescribed based on a female syntype and on material from Makhtesh Ramon National Park, Israel, and its first instar larva is described for the first time. The species is sexually dimorphic, with much darker adult males. The male g...

The flesh fly genus Wohlfahrtia Brauer & Bergenstamm contains at least six species of medical and veterinary importance. Traditional methods of species identification in specimens of Wohlfahrtia, however, are restricted mostly to adult forms. Muscle attachment site (MAS) patterns allow for species determination in larval forms. MAS patterns in thir...

Sarcophagidae is one of the most species‐rich families within the superfamily Oestroidea. This diversity is usually represented by three lineages: Miltogramminae, Paramacronychiinae and Sarcophaginae. Historically, the phylogenetic relationships among these lineages have been elusive, due to poorly supported hypotheses or small taxon sets, or both....

The given names and family names of the authors of the originally published version of this article was inadvertently interchanged. Correct presentation of the author names are presented here.

Lucilia (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a genus of blowflies comprised largely of saprophagous and facultative parasites of livestock. Lucilia bufonivora, however, exhibits a unique form of obligate parasitism of amphibians, typically affecting wild hosts. The evolutionary route by which amphibian myiasis arose, however, is not well understood due to t...

Untreated, traumatic, or wound myiases can cause severe consequences to animal health and welfare as well as economic losses to livestock productions. For healing myiasis-caused wounds, disinfectant such as creolin is wrongly but currently used in association with insecticides. Though effective, creolin is highly toxic to the patients, is inadequat...

Correct species identification is a crucial step in research and the practice of forensic entomology. At the moment the most common and widely used tool for this purpose are taxonomic keys based on morphological characters. During recent decades molecular methods have been used more and more often for species identification. Automated species ident...

The first record of Miltogramma villeneuvei VERVES, 1982 from Poland is given. The species was found in southern Poland, in the Pieniny Mountains. Several male specimens were collected by hand net during swarming on limestone rocks in Zaskalskie-Bodnarówka and Biała Woda Nature Reserves. The possibilities of finding another species of the genus Mil...

During inventory studies of Diptera and experiments on arthropod succession on decomposing pig carrion in Poland, we obtained several interesting Fanniidae species. Among the examined material, we identified Fannia collini d'Assis-Fonseca, Fannia hirticeps (Stein), Fannia nigra Malloch and Fannia ornata (Meigen), which are here reported as new for...

Necrophagous blowflies can provide an excellent source of evidence for forensic entomologists and are also relevant to problems in public health, medicine, and animal health. However, access to useful information about these blowflies is constrained by the need to correctly identify the flies, and the poor availability of reliable, accessible ident...

On 10 March 2016 the remains of an adult person, with unspecified personaI details, were discovered inside a power plant's chimney (250 meters high) in Zabrze, in southern Poland. The male corpse was partially mummified, with a small amount of soft tissue and dismembered as a result of the extraction from the chimney. The law enforcement authoritie...

In Europe, as elsewhere, blowflies (Calliphoridae) are usually the most abundant and frequent insects visitors of the exposed remains of vertebrates. The total Polish calliphorid fauna consists 69 recorded species but only some of them are typical carrion breeders with confirmed forensic importance. This paper is based on data collected from experi...

Miltogramminae is one of the phylogenetically most poorly studied taxa of the species-rich family Sarcophagidae (Diptera). Most species are kleptoparasites in nests of solitary aculeate wasps and bees, although parasitoids and saprophagous species are also known, and the ancestral miltogrammine life habit remains unsettled. Here, we present for the...

The Muscidae is one of the main dipteran families recognized as important for medico-legal purposes. Although an association of adult flies with decomposing human and animal bodies is documented for about 200 taxa worldwide, cadavers and carrion represents a breeding habitat for considerably fewer species. Species that do colonize dead human bodies...

In Mediterranean countries, Sarcophaga (Liopygia) crassipalpis , Sarcophaga (L.) argyrostoma, and Sarcophaga (L.) cultellata share the same ecological niche and can be responsible of myiasis. In this study, the main morphological characters of a larva found in a hospitalized woman were described and illustrated by light and SEM microscopy and the f...

33 species of Asilidae were found during faunistic studies in Toruń. The first record of Choerades femorata (MEIGEN, 1804) from Poland is given. Antipalus sinuatus (LOEW, 1854) from the Polish Red Data Book of Animals was found in Toruń and it is the 8 th in total and third current locality of this species in the country. High number of specimens o...

The blowfly Chrysomya albiceps (WIEDEMANN, 1819), an ephemeral element of Central European entomofauna, is known from Poland since 2008. During following years species was recorded in further localities in various parts of the country. The most spectacular observation was done in Łódź in late summer of 2013 and 2014, where large number of adult spe...

The existing description of the first instar of Apodacra seriemaculata MACQUART, 1854 is shown to be based on larvae obtained from a misidentified female, which after verification is referred to Apodacra chrysocephala ROHDENDORF, 1925. A de novo morphological description of the larva of A. seriemaculata points to a close relationship of this specie...

The bot fly Gruninomyia mira Szpila & Pape, gen.n. , sp.n. is described from Iran, North Khorasan, based on a single adult male and with no larval or host data. The monotypic genus shows a mixture of features otherwise found in either the rodent/lagomorph‐parasitizing oestromyine clade ( Oestroderma + Oestromyia ) or the artiodactyl‐parasitizing hy...

Knowledge on the taxonomic diversity and distribution of blowflies from the Madeira Archipelago is updated. New and interesting findings are reported for poorly studied islands and islets of this archipelago, together with a brief analysis of the diversity of Macaronesian Calliphoridae s. l. Seven blowfly species were collected during this study, i...

Możliwość wykorzystania śladów entomologicznych (obecności różnych stadiów rozwojowych owadów, ich szczątków i wydalin) obecnych w miejscu ujawnienia zwłok powoli znajduje swoje uzasadnione miejsce w praktyce dochodzeniowośledczej. Popularyzacja osiągnięć współczesnej entomologii sądowej, zwłaszcza medyczno-kryminalnej, skutkuje powolnym wzrostem z...

The first instar larva is described for two species of Miltogramminae flesh flies representing the genera Miltogramma Meigen and Phrosinella Robineau-Desvoidy. Using a combination of light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, the habitus is documented along with all important exoskeletal and cephaloskeletal structures. The described first i...

Light microscopy photographs, line illustrations and scanning electron microscopy micrographs are provided for first instar larvae of six Australian species of Chrysomya. All species have confirmed or potential in forensic investigations given their carrion-breeding habits. Morphology of the first instar larvae of Ch. nigripes, Ch. rufifacies, Ch....

Abstract Larviposition is widespread in blowflies, but among Calliphora species this behavior has seldom been described. The evidence of larviposition in C. loewi is here reported for the first time and discussed in relation with other blowfly species exhibiting the same behavior. The blowfly C. loewi is considered oviparous but surprisingly, femal...

To further establish species determination using the muscle attachment site (MAS) pattern method, third instar larvae of five forensically important species of Sarcophaga Meigen were investigated: Sarcophaga argyrostoma (Robineau-Desvoidy), Sarcophaga caerulescens Zetterstedt, Sarcophaga melanura Meigen, Sarcophaga albiceps Meigen and Sarcophaga si...

Species identification plays an important role in forensic entomology and is mandatory for an accurate calculation of the minimum post-mortem interval. Many important Diptera and Coleoptera taxa of the cadaver community can already be identified by common barcoding approaches, i.e., by sequencing a 658 bp region in the mitochondrial cytochrome c ox...