Sarcophaga barbata

The body of S. barbata is grey in color, spanning from 10 to 14 mm in length.[4] S. barbata has red compound eyes.[4] Its thorax displays three prominent black stripes, with another less distinct stripe on each side. Its abdomen is smaller in width than the thorax and has four sections, featuring a checkerboard pattern. Two scales are found at the base of edge of the species' wings, called epaulet and subepaulet.[4] The epaulet is situated close to the thorax and usually black, while the subepaulet is located further out and white in color.[4] The distinction of these scales is what separates it from other members of its family.

Male S. barbata are on average smaller than the females and have stripes that are closer together. Below the section of the abdomen, males have the hypopygium, which is the genital segments. At the end of the genital segments is the anus, which is flanked by two curved forceps that lack lateral motion.[4] The triangular accessory plate lies just outside of the forceps with the posterior and anterior claspers near the median of the plate. The two-jointed penis is located between the claspers next to the forceps. Males also possess combs on their hind legs composed of a close arrangement of short, blunt bristles. These combs are a distinctive feature of males.[4]

S. barbata can be found in North American and the Middle East year round. These flies prefer areas with direct sunlight and warmer climates. S. barbata are usually found in dead and rotting meat and animal excrement, which are prime environments for them. This is because their larvae are facultative parasites, as they feed on organic tissue and use the hosts' oxygen reserve.[2] Such parasitic feeding causes dermal myiasis in humans and animals.[4]

The life cycle of S. barbata takes between 12 and 60 days.[2] It involves the larva stage, the pupa stage, and the adult stage. The fly is viviparous, which means the female gives birth directly to live maggots, the larvae, as opposed to giving birth to eggs that later form into larvae.

The ovaries of S. barbata experiences and under-replication of rDNA resulting in half the amount of rDNA as compared to the brain.[6] A similar result is found in Drosophila hydei, which displayed under-replication in both nurse and follicle cells. This degree of under-replication, 47%, is still less than that in polytene chromosomes of the salivary glands of Drosophila melanogaster, which is 20%.[6] This under-replication of rDNA is in stark contrast to the oocyte nuclei of most species of animals, which show an increase rRNA synthesis during the growth period. Under replication is thought to be a product of asynchronous replication during mitosis.[6] This made an important contribution to scientific research because it indicated a possible energy-saving mechanism employed by certain organisms during development, which is currently being studied.

An experiment to test the spatial perception of the larvae and its effect on pupation can be performed in vitro. As the larvae are placed in the test tubes to explore the container thoroughly, they relate visual cues to tactile stimuli and distinguish between a closed and an open container.[8] If the container is open, there is no delay in pupation and the pupa faces the open end. If the container is closed, it is delayed by four to five days only because the tactile stimuli is present. Pupation delay in response to a closed container stopped after the dimensions of the container increases beyond the limit of the larvae's spatial perception.[8]