Blow fly reproductive decisions impact on offspring development in the presence of anthropogenic and environmental stresses

理解相互作用机制的复杂性和动态性仍然是动物生理学、行为和生态学预测应用的关键障碍之一。当所讨论的预测应用涉及利用昆虫证据估计无人看管的人类死亡的死亡时间时，这一点就变得更加关键。昆虫证据包括可能存在的昆虫的所有发育阶段或这些发育阶段的相关碎片，以及昆虫的任何行为，如昆虫摄食和成虫到达身体的时间，在身体上产卵的时间和位置，因为这些提供了关于发现之前身体的时间框架或条件的证据价值。我的研究重点是昆虫的繁殖和觅食决定，以及这些决定对生理和后代发育的结果在不同的非生物和生物胁迫下在自然和管理的农业生态系统。我建议评估人为和生物机制如何相互作用，以改变在死亡动物资源系统中吹蝇（双翅目：吹蝇科）的繁殖决策和后代的结果。吹蝇的生活史特征，如产卵的地点和时间以及由此产生的后代的发育，被用来提供这些死亡时间的估计。尽管这些生物指标直接适用于人类重要的问题，但文献中有许多未经检验的假设倾向于将整个家庭概括为一个整体，例如产卵的特定位置，产卵的时间，产卵的数量，以及发育的较低温度阈值。在北美的36种利用腐肉或死亡动物的物种中，只有不到1/4的物种有基本的发育数据。即使有少数得到较好研究的物种，关于发育的较低温度阈值，产卵时间和关于其他非生物影响（如湿度或物种相互作用对这些生活史特征的影响）的有限信息仍然存在争议。具体来说，我的研究将测量不同种类的吹蝇在不同温度、湿度和不同动物组织上产卵的时间和地点选择、产卵数量、存活率、后代的大小和发育。这些生活史性状将被单独测量，也将与其他吹风蝇组合测量，以测量物种组合对这些性状表达的影响。最后，我将测量不同类型的动物组织源（即垃圾，道路死亡）的分布及其对吹蝇物种多样性和分布的影响。总之，该研究将提供对特定的吹蝇物种生活史特征的重要理解，这些特征具有直接的昆虫证据适用性。

Understanding the complexity and dynamics of interacting mechanisms remains one of the critical stumbling blocks in predictive applications of animal physiology, behaviour and ecology. This becomes even more critical when the predictive application in question involves estimates of the time of death of unattended human deaths using insect evidence. Insect evidence includes all developmental stages of insects that may be present or associated debris from these developmental stages, as well as any insect behaviour such as insect feeding and timing of adult arrival to the body, timing and location of egg laying on the body as these provide evidentiary value regarding the time frame or conditions of the body prior to discovery. My research focuses on insect reproductive and foraging decisions, and the outcomes of those decisions on the physiology and development of offspring under different abiotic and biotic stresses within natural and managed agroecosystems. I propose to evaluate how anthropogenic and biological mechanisms interact to change blow fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) reproductive decisions and outcomes for offspring in dead animal based resource systems. Life history traits of blow flies, such as location and timing of egg laying and development of the resulting offspring, are used to provide these estimates of time of death. Despite the direct applicability of these biological metrics to issues of human importance, there are numerous untested assumptions in the literature that tend to be generalized across the family as a whole, such as the specific location that eggs are laid, timing of egg laying, numbers of eggs laid, and lower temperature thresholds for development. Of the 36 species in North America that utilize carrion, or dead animals, basic developmental data exists for less than 1/4 of these species. Even with the few better studied species, there is still debate as to lower temperature thresholds for development, timing of oviposition and limited information regarding other abiotic influences such as humidity or the effect of species interactions on these life history traits. Specifically, my research will measure timing and site selection of egg laying, number of eggs laid, survival, size and development of offspring of different species of blow flies at a range of temperatures, humidities and on different types of animal tissues. These life history traits will be measured for individual blow fly species on their own, as well as in combination with other blow fly species to measure the effect of species combinations on the expression of these traits. Finally, I will measure the distribution of different types of animal tissue sources (i.e. garbage, road kill) and this effect on blow fly species diversity and distribution. Together, this research will provide vital understanding of specific blow fly species life history traits which have direct applicability as insect evidence.