Facultative Myiasis
Definition
Myiasis caused by species that normally breed in carrion or organic debris but can infest living tissue, particularly necrotic wounds. Lucilia sericata, the common greenbottle, is the primary forensic species in this category in temperate regions.
- Normal breeding habitat
- Carrion or organic debris
- Opportunistic host
- Necrotic tissue in living hosts
- Primary forensic species
- Lucilia sericata (common greenbottle), temperate regions
- Contrast category
- Obligate myiasis-causing species, which require living tissue
Common questions
Why does facultative myiasis matter in cases involving neglect of living victims?+
When facultative species colonise wounds on a living, often incapacitated person, the extent and developmental stage of the larvae can help establish how long the victim went without care, which is directly relevant in elder or child neglect investigations.
How does facultative differ from obligate myiasis in forensic interpretation?+
Facultative species will readily colonise carrion just as easily as necrotic living tissue, so their presence on a body does not by itself indicate whether the host was alive or dead at colonisation, whereas obligate myiasis species specifically require living tissue and their presence points more directly to an antemortem wound.
Related terms
- Background Infestation
- Pre-existing insect activity in a property unrelated to the victim. The entomologist must distinguish insect evidence directly linked to the victim (on...
- Duty of Care Failure
- In neglect prosecutions, the legal standard requires showing that a carer had a duty to the victim, failed to meet it, and...
- Infestation Age
- The minimum period an infestation has been established, back-calculated from the oldest (most developed) larval stage present using accumulated temperature data. Gives...
- Myiasis
- Infestation of a living human or other vertebrate by the larvae of flies, which feed on living or necrotic tissue, body fluids,...
- Obligate Myiasis
- Myiasis caused by species whose larvae must develop in living tissue to complete their life cycle. The New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax)...