Laboratory experiments and field observations from August 2019 to April 2020 demonstrated that skipper flies (Diptera: Piophilidae) overwinter as larvae and likely present an obligatory winter diapause in Québec, Canada. Diapause was confirmed by the very few emergences of adults in the laboratory following collection from carrion at the end of summer and in fall, the migration of larvae deep in the soil, and the persistence of larvae inside carrion during the winter until the following spring when they became active again and initiated pupation (i.e., intra-puparial period). To our knowledge, our observations represent the first report of the overwintering of skipper fly larvae inside an animal carcass in North America. In addition, this winter diapause should be considered in forensic entomology when using the presence of skipper fly larvae on a body to estimate the time elapsed since death.

从2019年8月到2020年4月的实验室实验和现场观察表明，在加拿大魁北克，船长蝇（双翅目：嗜蝇科）越冬越冬，并且可能呈现强制性的冬季滞育。滞育是通过在夏季末和秋季从腐肉收集后，实验室中很少有成虫出现，幼虫在土壤深处的迁移以及在冬季直到第二年春季在腐肉中的持久性而得到证实的。他们再次活跃起来并开始化脓（即，腔内期）。据我们所知，我们的观察结果是北美动物尸体中的fly蝇幼虫越冬的首次报道。另外，在法医昆虫学中，应使用尸体上有skip蝇幼虫来估计自死亡以来已逝去的时间，以便在法医昆虫学中考虑这种冬季滞育。