No abstract

Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae are relevant to environmental conservation, public health, and forensic entomology. Researches regarding the flight behavior and the influence of abiotic factors on these insects may assist the application of entomology sciences. This study aimed to analyze the population fluctuation of Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae, verifying the influence of environmental factors, trap height, and the anthropic effect in the Itaipu–Piratininga lagoon complex, Niterói (RJ). The collections were carried out monthly from September 2015 to August 2016, with fish bait (sardines) exposed for 48 h, totaling six traps, installed in three physiognomies (mangrove, ombrophilous forest, and restinga) at 1.5 and 2.5 m from the ground. Nine thousand seven hundred seventy-three individuals were captured, comprising two families, five genera and 11 species. Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) was the predominant species and Mesembrinella bellardiana (Aldrich, 1922) (Diptera: Mesembrinellidae) the least representative, indicating the low preservation level of this ecosystem. There was a weak, positive correlation between abundance of Chloroprocta idioidea (Robineau Desvoidy, 1830) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Ch. megacephala, Chrysomya putoria (Wiedemann, 1818) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), and Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann, 1830) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) with the temperature, as well as between the abundance of C. idioidea and Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) with precipitation; however, there was no correlation between abundance and relative humidity. No significant influence of the trap height was observed. We stated a high influence of anthropic effects on the restinga and mangrove physiognomies, while the forest physiognomy still retains its preserved characteristics, with the dominance of forestall species.

Each biome has its own fauna and intrinsic local conditions that determine the succession patterns of insects on carcasses. For this reason, regional studies are very important to forensics. This study deals with the flies that visit carcasses of Rattus rattus (L., 1758) in the Atlantic Forest remnant of Floresta da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We compare the diversity and relative abundance of fly families and species throughout the four seasons of the year and test for correlations between certain environmental variables and fly richness. In each of the four seasons, we exposed the carcasses of three rats. The carcasses were put in traps that were installed on the ground, separated by 100 m. The flies were collected from the carcasses on a daily basis, and were taken to the laboratory and kept in a climate chamber (28 °C day and 26 °C night). A total of 5,537 flies were captured, identified into 12 families: Calliphoridae (4,884 specimens), followed by Sarcophagidae, Micropezidae, Fannidae, Muscidae, Phoridae, and Neridae. Canonical correspondence and redundancy analyses of the environmental variables indicated no relationship between the seasons and fly abundance. Carcass decomposition lasted longer in the winter (12 d) than in the summer (8 d). The Margalef richness index indicated higher richness in the spring and winter, and lower richness in the summer. The Shannon-Wiener index and Simpson dominance indicated greater diversity in the spring. Diptera colonized all stages of decomposition. The families Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae were more prevalent during the Fermentation stage. Our data have important implications for forensic entomology.

Forensic entomology is a complementary tool for penal procedures, mainly on estimating postmortem interval. Study of cadaveric fauna in various environments is primary as source of information to support this science. This study collected information about the fauna of Calliphoridae associated to carcasses of Rattus rattus in the Tijuca National Park, RJ. Four collections were conducted, one for each season of 2015, exposing six carcasses at georeferenced points in each collection. The carcasses were placed 550 m from the boarder and equidistant by 100 m. Five decomposition stages were identified, and 10,559 individuals of Calliphoridae belonging to 10 species were collected. The most abundant species were Hemilucilia semidiaphana (Rondani) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). L. eximia was the most abundant species during the Swelling and Black Putrefaction stages, succeeded in the next stages by two species of the genera Hemilucilia. H. semidiaphana was the dominant species in the last two stages, followed by Hemilucilia segmentaria (Fabricius) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The genus Mesembrinella (Diptera: Calliphoridae) occurred mainly during the Black putrefaction stage. Mesembrinella bellardiana (Aldrich) was more abundant, with higher occurrence during the Black putrefaction and Dry decay stages. Mesembrinella peregrina (Aldrich) occurred in the two last stages with low abundance. Huascaromusca aeneiventris (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) occurred during all the observed stages, mainly during the Butyric fermentation stage. Huascaromusca purpurata (Aldrich) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) occurred only during the Dry decay stage and in low abundance. A succession pattern in the carcasses colonization was observed, providing relevant information for the resolution of criminal investigations in this environment.

Flies of the family Calliphoridae play a variety of ecological roles. They carry various pathogens and cause myiasis in humans and livestock, but they are useful to forensic entomology and in larval therapy. Mesembrinellidae flies, formerly classified in the family Calliphoridae, are good bioindicators of human interference in natural environments. In this study, we carried out an inventory of the Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae at four collecting sites within the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. Eight traps were set, four in the arboretum (sites A and B), where the public is allowed to visit, and four at an Atlantic Forest fragment (sites C and D), open only to researchers. From July 2014 to June 2015, a total of 35,890 calliphorid flies were captured in 10 species and 145 Mesembrinellidea in 3. The greatest number of flies was found at site A and diversity was higher at site C. Chrysomya megacephala (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) was the most prevalent species, being present at all sites. Mesembrinella bellardiana (Aldrich) (Diptera: Mesembrinellidae), Laneella nigripes (Guimarães) (Diptera: Mesembrinellidae), and Huascaromusca purpurata (Aldrich) (Diptera: Mesembrinellidae) were present at sites C and D, which indicates a preservation of the area because they are asynanthropic species. There were significant differences between sites A and D and sites B and D.

Diptera Mesembrinellidae present great ecological importance as potential bioindicators and Calliphoridae stand out for their medical-sanitary importance as potential vectors of pathogens and causes of human and animal diseases such as myiasis. They beneficially aid in elucidating crimes in forensic entomology, contributing to determine the postmortem interval (PMI) and assisting in the healing process of necrotic wounds in larval therapy. This study aimed to inventory the Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae fauna in order to evaluate structural parameters and to apply faunal indexes in catching species in the Itaipu–Piratininga lagoon complex, in Niterói (Rio de Janeiro), Brazil. The collections were carried out monthly from September 2015 to August 2016 with fish bait (sardines) exposed for 48 h, totaling six traps installed in three physiognomies (mangrove, ombrophilous forest, and restinga). In total, 9,773 individuals were captured, divided into two families, five genera, and 11 species. Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794) was the predominant species, while Mesembrinella bellardiana (Aldrich, 1922) was the least representative species, indicating the preservation level of this ecosystem. Ombrophilous forest was the physiognomy with greater diversity and restinga was the physiognomy with greater species dominance. The similarity index indicated greater similarity among the mangrove and restinga populations.

This study investigated the composition of mosquito species in different kinds of breeding sites in a tropical forest remnant of the Atlantic Forest and identified species of public health concern therein. Collections of immature forms of mosquitoes were carried out monthly at the Poço das Antas Biological Reserve in southeastern Brazil, between June 2014 and June 2015. Samples were collected from four types of breeding sites: bamboos, bromeliads, puddles, and a lake. A total of 1,182 specimens of mosquitoes belonging to 28 species and 13 genera were collected. Three species, Ad. squamipennis, An. neglectus, and Wy. arthrostigma represented 64.8% of the captured specimens. Only three species were found in more than one type of breeding site: Ps. ferox, An. triannulatus, and Tx. trichopygus. Two species of public health concern were found breeding in bamboo (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus) and one in the lake (An. darlingi). Bamboo had the highest species richness, Shannon diversity, abundance of individuals and number of dominant species of all breeding sites. Similar Simpson diversity was obtained for bamboo and bromeliads, with higher values than those obtained for puddles and the lake. The significance of the four breeding sites, especially bamboos, is discussed in the context of controlling populations of sylvatic species of mosquitoes in Atlantic Forest areas.

In forensic entomology, the minimum and maximum post-mortem interval (PMI) is estimated on the basis of the developmental stages of necrophagous Diptera larvae on a corpse. The nutritional composition of the decomposing tissue, which can influence larval development rates, may impact the precision of this estimate. We compared the post-embryonic development of Chrysomya albiceps reared on bovine muscle and swine lung. Forty newly hatched fly larvae, per treatment, were placed on 60 g of the following tissues: bovine muscle (control) and swine lung (T1). Each treatment had three replicates. The experiments were maintained under controlled conditions (28°C day/26°C night, 70 ± 10% RH and 12 h photophase). Flies reared on bovine muscle took significantly longer to complete their larval phase (8.1 days) than did larvae reared on swine lung (6.8 days). The total duration of development in bovine muscle was significantly slower (12.3 days) than in swine lung. Larvae that were reared on swine lungs were significantly heavier than larvae reared on bovine muscle. Total larval viability was high on pig lung (over 49%). The sex ratio was closer to the 1:1 ratio in bovine muscle (rs = 0.55), with a slightly greater proportion of female larvae. The percentage of abnormality remained within the predicted range. The results show that the different tissues influenced larval development. This underlines the importance of considering the type of cadaveric tissue when larval development is used to calculate the minimum PMI in forensic investigations.