Genome and developmental transcriptome of the forensically important blowfly, Phormia Regina

Forensic entomologists often rely on the morphological traits of insects, such as length and weight, to estimate the time of death. Blowflies like Phormia regina are particularly significant in North American forensic investigations. However, age estimation of older P. regina maggots becomes challenging due to limited morphological changes during the lengthy L3 larval phase of development. To address this gap, we used transcriptomic profiling of blowfly maggots to generate molecular markers that specify their age. We first characterized maggot weight, behavior, and mRNA in 10-hour increments during development. At 27.5°C, the weight of the maggots increased from when first recorded at 70 through 100 hours and then remained stable from 110 hours to pupation. The behavioral transition between the feeding and the post-feeding wandering stage usually took place between 100 and 120 hours.  Second, we built a chromosomal-scale Phormia regina genome annotated with long mRNA reads to provi..., Identifying the transition between feeding and wandering behavior
We maintained a laboratory colony of a highly inbred line of Phormia regina. The source was from Dr. Amanda Roe at University of Nebraska at Lincoln [1]. Developmental rate data were available [1] . All rearing containers were maintained at 27.5+ 0.5 °C. under 16:8 light:dark cycle in one SMY04-1 DigiTherm CirKinetics Incubator (TriTech Research, Inc., Los Angeles, California, USA). The incubator was equipped with uniform lighting, additional fans, and a port for thermometer access.
Each equal-age cohort was reared within a plastic 72 x72x100 mm insect breeding box (Gyeonggi-do, Korea). Each box contained 0.5cm sawdust and a 30g of fresh chicken liver in a suspended 4 oz paper cup. Eggs were obtained on a paper towel soaked with chicken liver blood placed in a cage of P. regina adults for 30 minutes before removal. The removal time was considered age zero for those insects. About 500-1000 newly deposited eggs were placed ..., , # Genome and developmental transcriptome of the forensically important blowfly, Phormia Regina

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.w6m905r04](10.5061/dryad.w6m905r04)

## Description of the data and file structure

Blowflies from the Calliphoridae family are drawn to decaying organic matter. Female blowflies lay eggs on corpses, which hatch into larvae within hours to a day. These larvae grow through several stages before becoming adults, aiding in estimating the postmortem interval based on their development stage. Forensic entomologists use traits like length and weight for time of death estimation, but older larvae pose challenges due to limited morphological changes during their lengthy L3 phase.

Our dataset aims to estimate time of death by identifying genes in aging maggots of *Phormia regina*. We characterized maggot development and identified a transition between feeding and wandering stages at 100-120 hours at 27.5°C. We built a chromosomal-scale genome annotated with long and short ...,