LAUSR

The present study compared patterns of diversity of the families Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae (Diptera: Oestroidea) among areas of primary and secondary forest, and clearings in the Amazon biome. We evaluated the relationship between habitat specialist and generalist species, verifying their potential for use as bioindicator species. The study was conducted in 27 areas that comprise primary and secondary forests and clearings in the municipality of Juruti, Para, Brazil. We collected 4286 necrophagous flies in the three study environments. The hypothesis of dissimilarity in the diversity among environments was corroborated for the Sarcophagidae and partly upheld for the Calliphoridae. The sarcophagid species Oxysarcodexia carvalhoi (Lopes 1946), Oxysarcodexia fringidea (Curran and Walley 1934), Oxysarcodexia thornax (Walker 1849), and the calliphorids Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius 1794) and Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius 1775) were all associated with clearing environments. No sarcophagid species were identified as indicators of primary forest. The calliphorids, Chloroprocta idioidea (Robineau-Desvoidy 1830) and Paralucilia adespota (Dear 1985) were identified as indicators of primary + secondary forest. The occurrence of indicator species and their levels of tolerance varied considerably between the two families. The calliphorids and sarcophagids both included species capable of representing differences in necrophagous fly’s diversity among clearing, primary and secondary forest environments, which increases the understanding of the ecology of the taxa and their potential use for biomonitoring, management, and habitat conservation. In general, sarcophagids had a strong relationship with clearings and secondary forest. Some species show intense scavenger behavior and preference for altered environments. This reinforces the importance of the relationship between species and landscapes. In calliphorids, only Chloroprocta idioidea was associated with primary and secondary forest. We also recorded calliphorid species that prefer clearings and secondary forest and are highly tolerant to variation from abiotic factors, with wide niche breadth due to preference for these landscape types. The niche breadth and the tolerance shown by the species are an indication of the potential success of these organisms in response to anthropic processes and changes in landscapes.