de Barros Stephanie Evelyn Guimarães, Bicho Carla de Lima, Ferreira Henrique Rafael Pontes, Vasconcelos Simão Dias
Department of Zoology, Laboratory of Insects of Forensic Importance, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil.
Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Brazil.
Forensic Sci Int. 2024 Dec;365:112241. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112241. Epub 2024 Oct 9.
Empirical data on decomposition ecology have long established blowflies (Calliphoridae) and flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) (Diptera) as the most frequent colonizers of carrion, especially at early stages of decomposition. However, the scarcity of studies based on human cadavers has hindered inferences about colonization of homicide victims in real case scenarios. We describe here a survey of insects associated with cadavers retrieved from the site of death in Northeastern Brazil, with emphasis on the association between species diversity and the surrounding environment. We examined 81 cadavers, most of which were of men and resulting from violent death. Twelve cadavers (14.8 %) contained insect larvae, which were reared in the laboratory until adult emergence and identification. Ten species of Diptera effectively colonized the cadavers; seven of Family Calliphoridae - Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819), Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794), Chrysomya putoria (Wiedemann, 1830), Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius, 1775), Hemilucilia segmentaria (Fabricius, 1805), Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann, 1830), Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann, 1819) and three of Family Sarcophagidae, Blaesoxipha (Gigantotheca) stallengi (Lahille, 1907), Microcerella halli (Engel, 1931) and Peckia (Sarcodexia) lambens (Wiedemann, 1830). The species C. albiceps and C. macellaria were the most frequent colonizers, while Sarcophagidae was reported in only four cases. Insects were present on cadavers found in urban (n = 8) and rural (n = 4) sites, outdoors (n = 6) and inside (n = 6) residences. Presence of larvae was more frequent in the natural orifices in the head (n = 11). Clothing did not prevent from ovi/larviposition for most species. We present the first register of B. stallengi colonizing human corpses and expand the knowledge on the geographical distribution of necrophagous insects. Our protocol may contribute to forensic entomology in areas exposed to fast decomposition, such as the Neotropical Region.
长期以来，关于分解生态学的实证数据已证实，丽蝇科（Calliphoridae）和麻蝇科（Sarcophagidae）（双翅目）是腐肉最常见的定殖昆虫，尤其是在分解的早期阶段。然而，基于人类尸体的研究匮乏，阻碍了我们对真实案件场景中凶杀案受害者尸体定殖情况的推断。我们在此描述了一项对从巴西东北部死亡现场找回的尸体相关昆虫的调查，重点关注物种多样性与周围环境之间的关联。我们检查了81具尸体，其中大多数为男性，死因多为暴力死亡。12具尸体（14.8%）含有昆虫幼虫，这些幼虫在实验室饲养至成虫羽化并鉴定。有10种双翅目昆虫有效地定殖于尸体；丽蝇科7种——白纹丽蝇（Chrysomya albiceps，维德曼，1819年）、大头金蝇（Chrysomya megacephala，法布尔，1794年）、恶臭丽蝇（Chrysomya putoria，维德曼，1830年）、丝光绿蝇（Cochliomyia macellaria，法布尔，1775年）、截形扁角蝇（Hemilucilia segmentaria，法布尔，1805年）、铜绿蝇（Lucilia cuprina，维德曼，1830年）、卓越丽蝇（Lucilia eximia，维德曼，1819年），麻蝇科3种——斯氏巨麻蝇（Blaesoxipha (Gigantotheca) stallengi，拉希尔，1907年）、霍尔微麻蝇（Microcerella halli，恩格尔，1931年）和兰氏蚤蝇（Peckia (Sarcodexia) lambens，维德曼，1830年）。白纹丽蝇和丝光绿蝇是最常见的定殖昆虫，而麻蝇科仅在4例中被报道。在城市（n = 8）和农村（n = 4）地点、户外（n = 6）和室内（n = 6）住宅中发现的尸体上均有昆虫。头部自然孔窍中出现幼虫的情况更为常见（n = 11）。对于大多数物种而言，衣物并不能阻止其产卵/产幼虫。我们首次记录了斯氏巨麻蝇定殖于人类尸体，并扩展了对食尸性昆虫地理分布的认识。我们的方案可能有助于新热带地区等快速分解地区的法医昆虫学研究。
