Geographical Races of Old World Screw-Worm Fly, Chrysomyia bezziana Villeneuve, 1914, in South-Western Iran

A morphological analysis was undertaken with objective of identifying markers for geographical population of Old World screw worm flies, Chrysomyia bezziana Villeneuve (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in Khoozestan province, South Western Iran. During May 2006 to August 2007 the larvae of Chrysomyia collected from infested animals (Mostly sheep) and were incubated under suitable substratum in the Entomology laboratory. Totally 986 specimens were examined and geographical races of screw-worm fly were identified based on morphological characters by using diagnosis key. The study of morphological characters of the Old World screw worm flies population of South western Iran suggested that specimens are the same with Arabian race characters and demonstrates that the outbreak of C. bezziana in Iran related to populations that originated from Arab countries of the Persian Gulf like United Arab Emirates.