The family Calliphoridae, or blowflies, comprises large noticeable dipterans known to almost everybody, as well as the common housefly. Protophormia ter-ranovae is one of the first flies appearing in April on the walls and windows of houses. Other species (Lucilia, Calliphora) are abundant in sanitary fills, privies, refuse dumps, and marketplaces where hygienic regulations are not observed. Blowflies present an epidemic threat, many of them being synanthropic, inhabiting urban territories, and transmitting helminths and intestinal disease agents. This group is important not only in medicine and veterinary science but also in forensic science and archeology. This makes a review of these flies important for practical purposes.
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