Bluebottle - Chrysomya rufifacies

Family Calliphoridae

This page contains pictures and information about Bluebottle Blowflies that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.


Body length 8mm

This Bluebottle fly is also known as Green Hairy Maggot Blowfly.


Male Female

The fly is medium in size with metallic green body, with a distinct blue hue when viewed under bright sunlit conditions. It has a silvery head and red eyes. It has the board and round abdomen.



Their larvae are predaceous, feeding on the larvae of earlier-arriving flies. Females do not lay their eggs in a corpse until the body is partially decomposed and maggots are available as prey.








Reference:
1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, p781.
2. Insects of Australia and New Zealand - R. J. Tillyard, Angus & Robertson, Ltd, Sydney, 1926, p375.
3. Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) - - Australian Insect Common Names, CSIRO 2005
4. hairy maggot blow fly - by Jason H. Byrd, University of Florida, 1998
5. Hairy Maggot Blowfly - Diptera (flies) of Orange County, California, by Peter J. Bryant