Effects of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on Megaselia scalaris (Lowe, Diptera: Phoridae), the coffin fly, and its microbial community.. Megaselia scalaris

Due to increasing temperatures from climate change, many countries are looking to potable water alternatives, reclaimed wastewater, for agriculture. Wastewater contains pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) that are biologically active and occasionally long lived in the environment, even after passing through treatment facilities. Run-off and overflow from farms and wastewater treatment plants contribute high concentrations of PPCPs to the environment. This study assessed the effects of PPCPs on a common medically and forensically important saprophagous insect, Megaselia scalaris. Megaselia scalaris larvae were reared on drosophila artificial diets contaminated with PPCPs at environmentally relevant concentrations. Female flies showed no oviposition choice for treated or untreated diets. Caffeine treated larvae showed increased mortality, and antibiotic and hormone treated larvae showed signs of slowed development, especially in females. The common sex ration observed in M. scalrais was absent in caffeine and mixture treated individuals. There was also an overall effect of treatment on the microbial community of the flies. Our results suggest that PPCPs at concentration in the environment can have biologically and microbial effects on a medically and forensically important insect.