Ecological Survey of Medically Important Flies in Andimeshk County, Southwest Iran: Species Composition, Diversity and Synanthropy.

BACKGROUND

Flies play a significant role in public health because of their potential to transmit human pathogens and cause myiasis. This study aimed to investigate the species composition, abundance, biodiversity, and synanthropy of medically important flies in southwest Iran .

METHODS

Flies were collected from urban, semi-urban and non-residential ecosystems of Andimeshk county, southwest Iran, from 2020 to 2021 using a bottle trap and sweep net. All collected specimens were identified using taxonomic keys. Biodiversity and synanthropic indices were calculated.

RESULTS

A total of 15644 flies belonging to three families of Sarcophagidae, Calliphoridae and Muscidae were collected, comprising 11 genus and 18 species of Sarcophaga ruficornis (0.5%), S. aegyptica (0.9%), S. melanura (0.6%), S. africa (0.6%), Sarcophaga sp. (2.6%), Ravinia pernix (0.4%), Sarcophila sp. (0.3%), Wohlfahrtia sp. (0.6%), Chrysomya albiceps (9%), Chrysomya megacephala (36.3%), Lucilia sericata (2.5%), Calliphora vicina (0.3%), Polenia sp. (0.5%), Musca domestica (30.8%), Musca automnalis (0.6%), Muscina stabulans (2.4%), Muscina prolapse (0.4%), Atherigona sp. (0.6%) were trapped. The synanthropic index (SI) was +52.25, +46.2, +35.1, +35.95, and +21.45 for the myiasis-causing species, including C. vicina, S. africa, C. albispes, C. megalocephala and S. aegyptica, respectively. The biodiversity and evenness indices were 1.82±0.026 and 0.6306±0.0009, indicating a relatively high diversity and moderate/high evenness of flies in the study area.

CONCLUSION

Given synanthropic behavior and widespread presence of C. megacephala, this species should be prioritized in future surveillance and control programs to reduce public health risks.