Evolution
Calliphora vicina female
The Calliphoridae family, known as the blowflies, fall within the superfamily Oestroidea. The taxonomic and evolutionary relationships within the blowflies are uncertain. Works by Pape & Arnaud (2001) using DNA and by Rognes (1997) using adult and larval morphology indicate that the Calliphoridae is not a monophyletic group. A recent DNA study by Kutty et al (2008) gave a clade comprising the Sarcophagidae and the Tachinidae as the sister group to the paraphyletic Calliphoridae. Calliphora falls within the subfamily Calliphorinae, but the exact list of genera in this subfamily is disputed.
In his 2001 analysis, Rognes returned a clade which contains all the sarcosaprophagous blowflies (those with larvae which feed on rotting flesh). It consisted of the subfamilies:
- Toxotarsinae
- Chrysomyinae
- Calliphorinae
- Luciliinae
- Melanomyinae
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Glossary
Monophyletic
A group of organisms is said to be monophyletic if it contains a single common ancestor and all of its descendants. Monophyletic groups are also known as clades.
Paraphyletic
A group of organisms is said to be paraphyletic if it contains a single common ancestor but excludes some of the descendants of this ancestor.