Martin Jonathan Richard Hall

Natural History Museum, London · Department of Life Sciences

In forensic, medical and veterinary entomology, the ease and affordability of image data acquisition have resulted in whole-image analysis becoming an invaluable approach for species identification. Krawtchouk moment invariants are a classical mathematical transformation that can extract local features from an image, thus allowing subtle species-sp...

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...

Leishmaniasis is a debilitating disease of the tropics, subtropics and southern Europe caused by Leishmania parasites that are transmitted during blood feeding by phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae). Using non-invasive micro-computed tomography, we were able to visualize the impact of the laboratory model infection of Lutzomyia longipalp...

The composition and quantity of insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) can be species-specific as well as sexually dimorphic within species. CHC analysis has been previously used for identification and ageing purposes for several insect orders including true flies (Diptera). Here, we analysed the CHC chemical profiles of adult males and females of el...

Unlike most larval organs and tissues, the central nervous system of holometabolous insects persists into the adult stage, although profoundly remodelled and with some neuropils largely newly formed during metamorphosis. Among the neuropils, those forming the optic lobes are particularly relevant as they are the visual processing centres and compri...

Forensic practitioners analyzing entomological evidence are faced with numerous challenges when presenting their findings to law practitioners, particularly in terms of terminology used to describe insect age, what this means for colonization time of remains, and the limitations to estimates made. Due to varying legal requirements in different coun...

Research is a vital component of all forensic sciences and is often stimulated by casework, which identifies gaps in our knowledge. In such a niche area of forensic science as entomology there should be a close and mutually beneficial relationship between research and casework: to some extent there is a continuum between the two and many forensic e...

Onchocerciasis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by Onchocerca Diesing 1841 (Spirurida: Onchocercidae) nematodes transmitted by blackflies. It is associated with poverty and imposes a significant health, welfare and economic burden on many tropical countries. Current methods to visualize infections within the vectors rely on invasive met...

A case of a nasal myiasis in a 3-yr-old Italian girl who was referred to Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome, Italy, is reported. Larvae discharged with the nasal mucus were microscopically identified as Megaselia spp.; DNA barcoding analysis showed that they belonged to the 'scuttle fly' species Megaselia rufipes (Meigen). Based on the patient's history...

Oestrid flies (Diptera: Oestridae) do not feed during the adult stage, so they depend on an efficient assimilation and storage of nutrients during their parasitic larval stage. We describe the general morphology and provide volumetric data for the digestive and excretory organs of the three larval instars of the nasal bot fly Oestrus ovis L., using...

During the larval stage, oestrid flies (Diptera: Oestridae) are obligate parasites, whereas during the adult stage they are free‐living and do not feed. Like other cyclorrhaphous flies, oestrids undergo metamorphosis inside an opaque puparium, formed by the contracted and hardened cuticle of the third‐instar larva. The present study documents the i...

Most studies of decomposition in forensic entomology and taphonomy have used non-human cadavers. Following the recommendation of using domestic pig cadavers as analogues for humans in forensic entomology in the 1980s, pigs became the most frequently used model cadavers in forensic sciences. They have shaped our understanding of how large vertebrate...

Two ancient Egyptian child mummies at the University of Tartu Art Museum (Estonia) were, according to museum records, brought to Estonia by the young Baltic-German scholar Otto Friedrich von Richter, who had travelled in Egypt during the early 19th century. Although some studies of the mummies were conducted, a thorough investigation has never been...

When adult flies are collected at indoor crime scenes, the question of their origin arises, i.e., whether they originated from the outdoors, coming in to oviposit on the body, or if they developed through the larval and pupal stages from eggs laid on the body. This is particularly important if no empty puparia were collected, potentially because th...

Metamorphosis and, in particular, holometaboly, the development of organisms through a series of discrete stages (egg, larva, pupa, adult) that hardly resemble one another but are finely adapted to specific roles in the life cycle of the organism, has fascinated and mystified humans throughout history. However, it can be difficult to visualize the...

The importance of temperature data in minimum postmortem interval (minPMI) estimations in criminal investigations is well known. To maximise the accuracy of minPMI estimations, it is imperative to investigate the different components involved in temperature modelling, such as the duration of temperature data logger placement at the crime scene and...

Summary: The heleomyzid Neoleria propinqua Collin, 1943 has been recorded in London as part of a forensic entomology research project. We highlight characters that can be used for its identification and discuss the ecology and status in Britain of this fly, which appears to be more abundant and widespread than previously thought.

The bluebottle blow fly Calliphora vicina is a common species distributed throughout Europe that can play an important role as forensic evidence in crime investigations. Developmental rates of C. vicina from distinct populations from Germany and England were compared under different temperature regimes to explore the use of growth data from differe...

Wing morphometrics. (TPS)

Developmental study. (XLSX)

Molecular analysis. (TXT)

The Gnatwork is a global network which brings together researchers on blackflies, sandflies and biting midges to address technical issues that arise when working on small biting flies. This is the protocol booklet from our Gnatwork Bangladesh Workshop (3-6th September 2018), including protocols on morphological and molecular identification of vecto...

The advent of DNA technologies for field-based application promises to provide rapid intelligence to aid investigations. Their validation and adoption by enforcement groups have demonstrated utility in sample screening and prioritisation, but field application in some areas of forensic science, such as human remains identification, is little eviden...

Some parasites are able to manipulate the behaviour of their hosts to their own advantage. One of the most well-established textbook examples of host manipulation is that of the trematode Dicrocoelium dendriticum on ants, its second intermediate host. Infected ants harbour encysted metacercariae in the gaster and a non-encysted metacercaria in the...

Some parasites are able to manipulate the behaviour of their hosts to their own advantage. One of the most well-established textbook examples of host manipulation is that of the trematode Dicrocoelium dendriticum on ants, its second intermediate host. Infected ants harbour encysted metacercariae in the gaster and a non-encysted metacercaria in the...

Research in social insects has shown that hydrocarbons found on the cuticle are species-specific. This has also been proven in flies and is a promising tool for identifying forensically important species in Forensic Entomology. There has been a recent increase in research analysing the cuticular hydrocarbons of forensically important blowflies for...

The Old World screwworm fly (OWSF), Chrysomya bezziana (Diptera: Calliphoridae), is an important agent of traumatic myiasis and, as such, a major human and animal health problem. In the implementation of OWSF control operations, it is important to determine the geographical origins of such disease‐causing species in order to establish whether they...

p>Epidemiology of traumatic myiasis in Indonesia was studied by the widespread collection of fly larvae from infested livestock in passive case detection surveys involving veterinary clinics. In addition, monthly data from Kediri regency in Eastern Java were analysed from 2006-2009 to explore the seasonality of myiasis. Larvae from a total of 260 c...

Oestrid flies (Diptera: Oestridae) do not feed during the adult stage as they acquire all necessary nutrients during the parasitic larval stage. The adult mouthparts and digestive tract are therefore frequently vestigial; however, morphological data on the alimentary canal in adult oestrid flies are scarce and a proper visualization of this organ s...

Forensic entomology contributes important information to crime scene investigations. In this paper, we propose a method to estimate the hatching time of larvae (or maggots) based on their lengths, the temperature profile at the crime scene and experimental data on larval development. This requires the estimation of a time-dependent growth curve fro...

Minimum post-mortem interval (minPMI) estimates often rely on the use of developmental data from blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae), which are generally the first colonisers of cadavers and, therefore, exemplar forensic indicators. Developmental data of the intra-puparial period are of particular importance, as it can account for more than half of...

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...

Metamorphosis of cyclorrhaphous flies takes place inside a barrel-like puparium, formed by the shrinking, hardening and darkening of the third-instar larval cuticle. The opacity of this structure hampers the visualization of the morphological changes occurring inside and therefore a full understanding of the metamorphosis process. Here, we use micr...

The dramatic metamorphosis from larva to adult of insect orders such as Diptera cannot usually be witnessed because it occurs within an opaque structure. For the cyclorrhaphous dipterans, such as blow flies, this structure is the puparium, formed from the larval cuticle. Here, we reveal metamorphosis within the puparium of a blow fly at higher temp...

This paper presents the latest results of a long-term study of the Wildlife Garden in the grounds of the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. The current study tracks further developments in the Wildlife Garden and its colonization by several rare and unusual species as well as more commonly encountered species. It follows the publication of t...

The value of minimum post-mortem interval (minPMI) estimations in suspicious death investigations from insect evidence using temperature modelling is indisputable. In order to investigate the reliability of the collected temperature data used for modelling minPMI, it is necessary to study the effects of data logger location on the accuracy and prec...

Developmental studies of necrophagous insects are strongly needed to support medico-legal investigations, because minimum postmortem intervals (minPMI) can be estimated from development data for species collected from a forensic scene together with accurate temperature information from that scene. The life cycle of cyclorrhaphous flies, which inclu...

Blow fly eggs may sometimes be the only entomological evidence recovered in a forensic case, especially in cooler weather when hatching might take several days: hence, a method for estimating their age is greatly needed. However, developmental data on blow fly eggs are mainly limited to records of the time to larval hatching. The current paper desc...

To identify the geographical origins of larvae of Wohlfahrtia magnifica (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) causing myiasis of sheep in Italy, comparative DNA sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was performed, based on gene fragments amplified by PCR from genomic DNA isolated from individual specimens. DNA extractions of 19 larvae from La...

Traumatic myiasis, the parasitic infestation by fly larvae in traumatic lesions of the tissues of living vertebrates, is a serious medical condition in humans and a welfare and economic issue in domestic animals.Newmolecular studies are providing insights into its evolution and epidemiology. Nevertheless, its incidence in humans is generally underr...

Three representatives of the muscid genus Muscina Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Musicidae), Muscina levida (Harris), Muscina prolapsa (Harris) and Muscina stabulans (Fallén), are well known for their medical, veterinary and forensic importance. However, data in the literature provide contradictory information for the identification of third instar la...

Approved standards and practices are necessary for forensic entomology because its application must be reliable in court. Forensic entomology requires a template for collecting, analyzing, and reporting its evidence using common minimum standards and best practices that can be defended in court. This chapter provides a protocol modeled on medicocri...

Larval morphology of flies is traditionally studied using light microscopy, yet in the case of fine structures compound light microscopy is limited due to problems of resolution, illumination and depth of field, not allowing for precise recognition of sclerites’ edges and interactions. Using larval instars of cyclorrhaphan Diptera, we show the usef...

A human cadaver is an attractive breeding habitat for necrophagous insects and for those species that are predators of necrophages. One of the important tasks of forensic entomologists is to provide a reliable list of species associated with decomposing bodies both in the adult and larval stages. We present here a case of a human cadaver discovered...

Criminals have been known to dispose of bodies in zipped suitcases in an attempt to conceal murder. In order to investigate the forensic implications of this mode of disposal on calculating time of death, it is necessary to study the accessibility of bodies in suitcases to blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and the possibility of oviposition and in...

First instars of Calliphora vomitoria (Linnaeus) and Cynomya mortuorum (Linnaeus) (both: Diptera: Calliphoridae) are thoroughly documented with scanning electron microscopy images, light microscopy photographs and line drawings. Substantial new data are provided for the following morphological structures: pseudocephalon; antennal complex; maxillary...

A survey on the prevalence and geographical distribution of traumatic myiasis in sheep, and the risk factors for the disease, was carried out in a region of southern Italy. A total of 138 sheep flocks were selected and visited to acquire data on the presence or absence of traumatic myiasis using both a questionnaire for retrospective analysis and a...

There are only three fly species that are obligate agents of traumatic myiasis of humans and livestock: a single species of flesh fly, Wohlfahrtia magnifica (Sarcophagidae), and two species of blow flies, Chrysomya bezziana and Cochliomyia hominivorax (Calliphoridae). The morphology of their first instar larvae is thoroughly and consistently docume...

First instars of Lucilia ampullacea Villeneuve, Lucilia caesar Linnaeus, Lucilia cuprina Weidemann, Lucilia richardsi Collin, Lucilia sericata Meigen and Lucilia silvarum Meigen (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are thoroughly documented with scanning electron microscopy images, light microscopy photographs and line drawings. The following morphological str...

There are numerous biotic factors that affect the development rates of blow fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae, and an understanding of these effects is necessary in order to make accurate minimum postmortem interval (PMImin) estimates. Previous research uncovered differences in development rates of larvae reared on different tissues and on differ...

Chrysomya spp are common blowflies in Africa, Asia and parts of South America and some species can reproduce in prodigious numbers in pit latrines. Because of their strong association with human feces and their synanthropic nature, we examined whether these flies are likely to be vectors of diarrheal pathogens. Flies were sampled using exit traps p...

Light microscopy photographs, line illustrations and scanning electron micrographs are provided for first instars of Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann), Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) and Protophormia terraenovae (Robineau-Desvoidy) (all: Diptera: Calliphoridae). The following morphological structures are documented: pseudocephalon; antennal complex...

Phylogenetic, genealogical and population relationships of Chrysomya bezziana, the Old World screwworm fly (OWSF), were inferred from DNA sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b), nuclear elongation factor-1α (EF-1α) and nuclear white eye colour (white), using sequences of Chrysomya megacephala and Chrysomya rufifacies as outgroups. Cyt b (7...

The development rate of immature Calliphora vicina reared on decomposed liver was significantly slower, by as much as 30 h (55.4 % of total development time) for mid-sized larvae, and 71 h (35.0 %) and 58 h (14.6 %) if using times to the onset of pupariation and eclosion, respectively, than those of immatures that developed on fresh whole pig's liv...

Muscidae is one of the dipteran families whose species are closely associated with human settlements and products of their activities. Association of adults as well as the immature stages of these insects with decomposed animal and human bodies has been documented in legal cases and carrion succession experiments. In particular cases Muscidae was t...