Decomposition and dipteran succession on pig carrion in central Argentina: ecological aspects and their importance to forensic science

BATTÁN HORENSTEIN, MOIRA, ARICIO XAVIER LINHARES, BEATRIZ ROSSO DE FERRADAS AND DOLORES GARCÍA

MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY

Blackwell

Año: 2010 vol. 24

0269-283X

Data on the insect species involved in corpse decomposition is particularly important to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI) in forensic science, as the PMI is based on the life cycle and behaviour of necrophagous insects. To determine the dipteran succession on pig carrion, four experiments, one in each season, were carried out during 2004 in a rural area of Cordoba, central Argentina. Two pigs (Sus scrofa L.), weighing approximately 8 kg each, were used in each of the four experiments. The animals were killed by a sharp blow to the head and immediately placed in an appropriate arthropod  tr<    trap. One pig was placed in the shade and the other under direct sunlight. Insect fauna was collected daily during the first four weeks and thereafter every two or three days. Five stages of decomposition were observed and a total of 24,315 adult specimens were collected, belonging to the following eight Diptera families: Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae, Phoridae, Piophilidae, Fanniidae, Sphaeroceridae and Anthomyiidae.  All the Calliphoridae species collected in this study were considered of potential forensic importance due to their necrophagous behaviour and to their immature stages that use carrion as a source of food. Other species, like Musca domestica and Ophyra aenescens, were also considered potential forensic indicators. Key words: decomposition, succession, Diptera, IPM, forensic entomology