Species composition and heterogeneity of blowflies assemblages (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in urban-rural gradients at regional scale in Argentinean Patagonia

Abstract

This work is aimed at describing the spatial distribution of Calliphoridae species along urban-rural gradients in the southern Patagonian steppe, and the influence of geographical factors on species composition and relative abundance. Blowfly assemblages from 12 localities of Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina between 1997 and 2007 were studied. Samples were assigned to three categories of sites (wild sites, mid urbanized and urbanized) and four environmental variables were recorded. Three dominant species account for 98 % of all specimens, the wild Compsomyiops fulvicrura, and two synanthropic species: L. sericata and Ca. vicina. Additionally we tested the homogenization of urban calliphorid fauna by comparing the turnover of species among sites, but our findings showed similar heterogeneity of urban and non-urban assemblages.