Despite the medical, veterinary and forensic relevance of myiasis-causing flies, knowledge of their diversity in Saudi Arabia is limited especially in the southern region. Therefore, a survey of myiasis-causing flies in the Jazan region was carried out using Red Top Fly Catcher traps baited with either decomposing beef liver or a lure composed primarily from fishmeal during the period April 2013-March 2014. Twelve known species were identified and recorded in this study, seven species of them belonging to Calliphoridae (Chrysomya, Lucilia, and Hemipyrella) and five species belonging to Sarcophagidae (Sarcophaga). Two of these species were recorded for the first time for Saudi Arabia, namely Hemipyrella pulchra (Wiedemann, 1830) and Sarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) exuberans Pandellé, 1896. Images of the species recorded are also provided for the first time. The results expand the knowledge of geographical distribution, fauna, and habitat of the myiasis-causing flies in Saudi Arabia. Biological information and world-wide geographical distribution of these species are included together with some taxonomic remarks.
Iranihindia martellata (Senior-White, 1924) is recorded from peninsular Malaysia for the first time. Male and female specimens in the recent collections of forensically important sarcophagid flies were examined and identified based on morphology and DNA sequencing analysis. Male genitalia offer unambiguous species identification characteristics in the traditional taxonomy of flesh flies but the female flies are very similar to one another in general morphology. Female of I. martellata was determined by DNA sequencing (COI and COII) and PCR-RFLP (COI) analysis. Identified females were carefully examined and compared with the morphologically similar species, Liopygia ruficornis (Fabricius, 1794). Female genitalia are re-described and illustrated in this paper.