Greenbottle Fly Phaenicia/Lucilia sericata/Lucilia caesar/Lucilia sp.

For a Blowfly, the Greenbottle Fly is quite attractive with its bright, metallic green body and red eyes. The name Common Greenbottle is applied to both Lucilia/Phaenicia sericata and Lucilia caesar blowflies. There are several other metallic green blowflies in Lucilia genus also called Greenbottles.

The term "Blowfly" comes from meat being "fly blown" since these flies lay eggs in dead carcases very soon after death - in fact the development stage of eggs or maggots is one of the methods to determine time of death. The maggots were also used medicinally since they prefer to eat dead flesh than live flesh.

Sometimes the colour is more golden bronze green. Female flies have well-separated (smaller) eyes; male flies have eyes that meet at the top of their head to give better vision.