Thread subject: Diptera.info :: sarcophagous / necrophagous

Posted by Robert Nash on 20-11-2006 12:43
#4

The terms sarcosaprophagous and necrophagous are sometimes synonymous. However necrophagy,although from the Greek word for dead, death, dead body, dead tissue or cells or corpse usually refers to, in the case of Diptera, a larva feeding on a corpse.

Sarcosaprophagy, from the Greek word, Sarcos, meaning flesh or muscle and sapros "decaying, rotten, putrid, spoiled" may refer to a corpse-feeding larva or one feeding on decaying animal tissue of any kind in any situation, for instance on dead, necrotic tissue in a wound on a living animal.

Sarcosaprophagous is a preferred (to necrophagous) term in forensic entomology since it is neutral, not necessarily implying the presence of a corpse.

A saprophagous larva, it should be also noted may be a mycetophage or bacteriophage, feeding not on the decaying organic material itself but on fungi or bacteria but whether or not this is facultative or obligate is in the majority of instances speculative (guesswork).
Many of the terms used in Wikipedia are defined generally in relation to their use in a general sense and are broadly written and not necessarily in relation to their use in technical areas such as dipterology.

Robert