Façanha Bruna L B, Almeida Rony P S, Cavalcante Keison, Peniche Taires, Lobato Telma A S, Araújo Camila M C V, Souto Raimundo N P
Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Zoologia, Universidade Federal Do Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil.
Departamento de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Itabaiana, Sergipe, Brazil.
Neotrop Entomol. 2024 Dec 12;54(1):13. doi: 10.1007/s13744-024-01231-9.
Blowflies are often the first to colonize a cadaver, making them valuable forensic indicators for estimating the post-mortem interval (PMI). However, understanding the decomposition process by blowflies in practice presents challenges due to the direct influence of adults and larvae on the process. Environmental factors can either hinder or stimulate colonization by different species, leading to variability across different settings. In this study, we aimed to investigate the variation in the community of adult and immature stages of Calliphoridae blowflies during pig carcass decomposition in an island area of the Amazon rainforest. We identified changes in abundance, richness, and species composition separately for adults and larvae and measured the congruence between larval and adult communities. Our findings revealed that the peak abundance of adults preceded the peak abundance of larvae during carcass decomposition. Eleven species were collected within the first 4 days of decomposition, of which only seven colonized the carcass. Species composition differed between life stages and decomposition phases, with larvae associated with the skeletonization phase and adults with the colliquative phase. The species composition of adults collected from the decomposing carcass corresponded to that of larvae collected 1 day later. This is the first study conducted in an Amazonian island environment in the extreme north of Brazil to document the cadaveric fauna and analyze the congruence between adult and larval communities of blowflies. These insights contribute to forensic entomology understanding and assist forensic professionals, particularly in tropical regions with high rates of unsolved homicides like Brazil.
丽蝇通常是最先在尸体上定殖的昆虫，这使它们成为估算死后间隔时间（PMI）的重要法医指标。然而，由于成虫和幼虫对这一过程有直接影响，在实际中了解丽蝇的分解过程存在挑战。环境因素可能会阻碍或刺激不同物种的定殖，导致不同环境下存在差异。在本研究中，我们旨在调查亚马逊雨林一个岛屿地区猪尸体分解过程中丽蝇科成虫和幼虫群落的变化。我们分别确定了成虫和幼虫在丰度、丰富度和物种组成方面的变化，并测量了幼虫和成虫群落之间的一致性。我们的研究结果表明，在尸体分解过程中，成虫的丰度峰值先于幼虫的丰度峰值出现。在分解的前4天内收集到了11个物种，其中只有7个在尸体上定殖。不同生命阶段和分解阶段的物种组成不同，幼虫与骨骼化阶段相关，而成虫与液化阶段相关。从正在分解的尸体上收集的成虫物种组成与1天后收集的幼虫物种组成相对应。这是在巴西北部最偏远的亚马逊岛屿环境中进行的第一项研究，记录了尸体动物群并分析了丽蝇成虫和幼虫群落之间的一致性。这些见解有助于法医昆虫学的理解，并协助法医专业人员，特别是在像巴西这样未解决凶杀案发生率高的热带地区。
