An illustrated key to and diagnoses of the species of Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera) associated with decaying carcasses in Argentina

FERNANDO H. ABALLAY; GUSTAVO E. FLORES; VIOLETA A. SILVESTRO; NOELIA I. ZANETTI Y NÉSTOR D. CENTENO

Ciudad de Mendoza

Simposio; Fourth International Tenebrionoidea Symposium; 2015

CONICET

Besides the dominant coleopteran families Dermestidae and Cleridae usually employed to perform post-mortem interval (PMI) estimations, species of other families such as Tenebrionidae have frequently been reported in forensic studies. Though less abundant, these species are prevalent in decomposing carcasses. In this study we identified adults of the Tenebrionidae associated mainly to pig and human carcasses located in different areas of Argentina. The greatest number of species is reported to occur in both late decay and dry stages. The objective of this work is to provide an illustrated key of 26 Tenebrionidae species associated with decaying carcasses in Argentina, including diagnoses, habitus photographs and a table of these species detailing the substrate from where they were collected. These 26 Tenebrionidae species registered are grouped into four subfamilies: Alleculinae (one species of Alleculini), Diaperinae (two species of Cripticini), Tenebrioninae (13 species, eight belonging to the tribe Scotobiini, three of Opatrini, one species from each tribe: Alphitobiini and Tenebrionini), Pimeliinae (10 species, three belonging to the tribe Epitragini, two of Evaniosomini, two of Praociini, one species from each tribe: Trilobocarini, Edrotini and Elenophorini). A discussion is presented on the potential forensic importance of some species collected on human and pig carcasses.