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This work lists 93 species of Sarcophaga found in France and incorporates recent taxonomic and nomenclatural changes. Detailed photographs are provided of the diagnostic structures in the male terminalia of all the species, and two separate keys are given for their identification, one for French species only, the other for European species. The structure of the female terminalia has received less attention than that of males and, with the exception of a few species, the identification of females is more difficult. Largely as a result of the rearing techniques of Rene Richet, it has been possible to include photographs of the female terminalia of 84 species together with keys for their identification. Likewise, it has been possible to provide photographs of some features of the larvae (habitus of first instar, cephaloskeleton of instars 1 - 3 and spiracles of instars 2 and 3) of 65 species.
Abbreviations used in the text, figures and plates 7
Introduction 8
Taxonomy and nomenclature 9
List of species found in France 11
Morphology 15
Male terminalia 15
Female terminalia 17
Techniques 19
Preparation of specimens 19
Adults 19
Larvae 22
Photography 22
Rearing 23
Biology of the species 25
General comments 25
Biology of individual species 27
Collecting 35
Locality data 36
Distribution 45
General comments 45
Distribution of individual species 45
Group 1. Species that are new records for France 46
Group 2. Species recorded from France prior to 1941 but none, or very few, collected since 48
Group 3. Species found mainly in the Mediterranean region 49
Group 4. Species found mainly in the south but not restricted to the Mediterranean 51
Group 5. Species that are uncommon and have a limited, often fragmented, distribution 53
Group 6. Species that are uncommon but widely distributed 56
Group 7. Species that are common and widely distributed 59
Group 8. Species found in Corsica but not in mainland France 65
Conservation status 66
Keys for identification 68
Keys 1a–h: Males of European species [except for Key 1b] 68
Key 1a to males of the main groups in the genus Sarcophaga 68
Key 1b to males of Sarcophaga (Sarcophaga); French species only 72
Key 1c to males of S. (Liopygia), S. (Liosarcophaga), S. (Pandelleisca), S. (Parasarcophaga), S. (Robineauella), S. (Rosellea) and S. (Varirosellea) 74
Key 1d to males of Sarcophaga (Thyrsocnema) 79
Key 1e to males of Sarcophaga (Helicophagella) 80
Key 1f to males of Sarcophaga (Discachaeta) and S. (Heteronychia) 82
Key 1g to males of Sarcophaga (Mehria) and S. (Myorhina) 95
Key 1h to males of Sarcophaga (Pandelleana) 96
Key 2: Males of French species only 97
Key 3: Females of French species only 106
Locality records for Sarcophaga spp. in France 115
Acknowledgements 170
References 171
Figures 185
Plates 191
Maps 313
Index to species in the Plates 322
Index by Plate 322
Index by species 326
Rene Richet is a retired school teacher since September 2003 and an amateur dipterist since 1984 specialising in the study of French Sarcophagidae. Rene has collected in most parts of France, but particularly in Pas-de-Calais, the Alps and the Pyrenees, and the southern parts of Massif Central. His long-term goal is to document the male, female and all three larval instars of each species of French flesh flies, and special techniques have been developed for the breeding of individual species and dissection and preparation of larvae.
Ruth M. Blackith: As a research associate of the University of Dublin, Ruth started her studies on flesh flies with a work on larval aggression in Irish species of Sarcophaga (sensu lato). Apart from some work on the taxonomy and biology of flesh flies collected during the Royal Entomological Society of London's expedition to Sulawesi, her work has concentrated on European species of Sarcophaga (s.l.). She made several collecting trips to France with her husband Robert Blackith, after his retirement from the University of Dublin in 1987, resulting in a large number of specimens, which have greatly increased our knowledge of the French fauna of Sarcophaga (s.l.) spp.
Thomas Pape started studying flesh flies when preparing for his Master's thesis under Leif Lyneborg at the University of Copenhagen, and while the thesis eventually was written on wood-louse flies (Rhinophoridae), his PhD-thesis was on the taxonomy and systematics of the large flesh fly genus Blaesoxipha. He has published extensively on the world fauna of Sarcophagidae since 1985, and over the years he has done field work on flesh flies on all continents. He published the first catalogue of the flesh fly species of the world in 1996, which has been continuously updated.
