Base Temperature
Definition
The species-specific temperature below which development effectively ceases. For most forensically relevant blow fly species this is in the range of 2-10 degrees Celsius; ADH accumulates only above this threshold.
Related terms
- Accumulated Degree Hours (ADH)
- A temperature-corrected measure of developmental time. Calculated by summing (hourly ambient temperature minus the species-specific base temperature threshold) across the period of...
- Instar
- A developmental stage between moults (ecdysis). Blow flies have three larval instars (L1, L2, L3), each ending when the larva sheds its...
- Posterior Spiracles
- The paired breathing openings at the hind end of a blow fly larva. Their slit count and sclerotisation state are the primary...
- Ptilinum
- An inflatable frontal sac on the newly eclosed adult blow fly, used to burst through the puparial operculum and push through soil....
- Pupariation
- The process by which the third-instar larva contracts and hardens its own cuticle to form the puparial case (puparium) that encloses the...
Explained in
- The Blow Fly Life Cycle: Egg to AdultThe species-specific temperature below which development effectively ceases. For most forensically relevant blow fly species this is in the range of 2-10 degre...