Partial sequencing of the cytochrome oxydase b subunit gene I: A tool for the identification of European species of blow flies for postmortem interval estimation

The identification of insects found on a dead body can lead to the estimati on of the time of death (postmortem interval). We report an updated version of an established method based on sequence analysis of PCR products from a region of the cytochrome b oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene of differe nt members of the family Calliphoridae, by sequencing six European species: Lucilia sericata (Meigen), Lucilia caesar (Linne), Lucilia illustris (Meig en), Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvody), Calliphora vomitoria (Linne), Pr otophormia terraenovae (Robineau-Desvody) and one Guianese species: Cochlio myia macellaria (Fabricius). This technique provided clear results when app lied to the larvae and we also report the identification of empty puparia.