Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794)

mosca, Oriental latrine blow fly

Chrysomya megacephala Scalesia forest, Los Gemelos, Santa Cruz Island. Photo: Emma Pike, CDF, 2025.
Chrysomya megacephala Scalesia forest, Los Gemelos, Santa Cruz Island. Photo: Emma Pike, CDF, 2025.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Diptera

Suborder
Brachycera

Family
Calliphoridae

Genus
Chrysomya

Species
megacephala

Taxon category: Accepted

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 1989

Mode of introduction: Accidental

Introduction Pathway: Contaminant

Subpathway: On habitat material (soil, vegetation)

Introduced status: Naturalized

Invasive status: Unlikely to become invasive

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: Afrotropical, Neotropical; Caamaño, Baltra, Isabela, Santa Cruz.

References

  • Peck, S.B. (1996) Origin and development of an insect fauna on a remote archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. In: Keast A., Miller S.E. (eds.): The origin and evolution of Pacific Island biotas, New Guinea to eastern Polynesia: patterns and processes. SPB Academic Publishing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p. 91-122.
  • Peck, S.B. Heraty, J., Landry, B. & Sinclair, B.J. (1998) Introduced insect fauna of an oceanic archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Am. Entomol. 44: 218-237.
  • Sinclair, B. J. (2023) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Zootaxa, 5283, 1-102
  • Sinclair, B.J. Peck, S.B. (2005) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 64 pp.
  • Tantawi, T.I. Sinclair, B.J. (2013) An update of the blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of the Galápagos Islands, and first record of Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) from mainland Ecuador Zootaxa 3750 (3): 237–250
  • Tarek, I. Tantawi, Bradley, J. Sinclair (2013) An update of the blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of the Galápagos Islands, and first record of Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) from mainland Ecuador Zootaxa 3750 (3): 237–250

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Chrysomya megacephala", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=5698. Accessed 2 November 2026.