Department of Zoology, Punjabi University, Patiala - 147 002, Punjab, India.
*Corresponding author
A simple method has been designed to estimate the age of pupae of forensically important fly, Chrysomya megacephala. The pupae of different ages were submerged for a brief period in different grades of alcohol (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) and in distilled water and their sinking/floating behaviour were observed. As the metamorphosis from larval stage to adult inside the puparium progressess the specific gravity of pupa decreases and pupa placed itself obliquely and perpendicular to the surface of water+alcohol then start free floating till eclosion. This behaviour can be used to estimate the pupal age.
