A preliminary investigation of insect succession on carrion in Calabria (southern Italy)

Brandmayr, Pietro; Greco, Silvia; Brandmayr, Tullia Zetto; Bonacci, Teresa; Tersaruolo, Claudio; Vercillo, Vannio

doi:10.1163/187498310x517123

Cited by 27 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Our results suggest that in the reported case the predatory activity of T. nigerrimum could have interfered with body colonization by flies, which usually reach a body few minutes after death [15,[18][19][20][21]. These data are similar to previously reported ones in which a body was found extensively colonized by ants in almost total absence of eggs and larvae, which presumably foraged on them altering the body decay [22].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Severe post mortem damages by ants on a human corpse

Bonacci¹,

Benecke²,

Scapoli³

et al. 2019

RJLM

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Ants are known to colonize corpses during all stages of decomposition. Since they are also known to predate necrophagous insects, they may affect forensic investigations not only because of possible misinterpretations of skin lesions but also because of removal of dipteran and coleopteran colonizers. We report a case of skin damages on a human corpse found in late spring in a suburban area of Cosenza (Region Calabria, Southern Italy) caused by activity of Tapinoma nigerrimum (Nylander) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). During external examination on site and autopsy, numerous ants were observed feeding on the body but no other insect species was found. We discuss the appearance of skin lesions, the possible role of T. nigerrimum in interfering with colonization by necrophagous insects and its consequences on forensic investigations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Severe post mortem damages by ants on a human corpse

Bonacci¹,

Benecke²,

Scapoli³

et al. 2019

RJLM

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“…Diverse studies showed that there is a long history of success in using carabids to signal environmental change [4,8,[33][34][35]. Moreover, changes in landscape such as fragmentation [36,37], recreational use [38], urbanization [39,40], forest management [35,41].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elucidation of Some Ecological Traits of Carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Inhabiting Kakuma Campus Grassland, Kanazawa City, Japan

ElEla¹,

ElSayed²,

Nakamura³

2022

Biodiversity of Ecosystems

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Although adult feeding habits and food requirements are currently and reasonably well known for many coleopteran species, still some carabid species are with peculiar feeding guilds. Although many studies have shown a relationship between morphology of mandibles and feeding behavior in different taxal group, still many aspects concerning the feeding behavior of carabids are promising. An assemblage of carabid species was collected from Kakuma Campus grassland in Kanazawa City, Japan. These species were represented by five subfamilies and nine tribes where the highest number of tribes (3 tribes) was confined to subfamily Harpalinae. The collected carabid assemblage was subjected to mandibular analysis and being categorized into two main groups; carnivorous and omnivorous species. Homologies among mandibular characteristics and functional adaptations of the mandible were also proposed to explore how the interaction network of carabids can affect their behavior in different habitats.

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“…In most past forensic studies of ants, the researchers used carcass baits to attract arthropods, and the resulting collected ants were often a single species in large numbers fully occupying the resource (McGlynn & Kirksey, 2000;Cerda et al, 2013). Some of these studies likely significantly under-sampled true ant diversity by only using hand collection to survey ants (Carvalho et al, 2004;Bonacci et al, 2010), promoting the use of a baited trap mixed with pitfall traps to enhance the sampling of necrophilous ants (Hwang, 2011;Castro et al, 2014;Andrade-Silva et al, 2015). In this study, we developed a simple combination bait-pitfall trap that catches a more representative sample of the true necrophilous ant diversity of a region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This potential of ants has long been overlooked in forensic entomology, where past surveys of insect succession on carcasses or crime studies usually did not provide specieslevel identification for ants (Carvalho et al, 2004;Moura et al, 2005;Bonacci et al, 2010;Bonacci et al, 2011). Until now, only a few forensic entomology studies in Portugal, Brazil and Taiwan recorded ant species (Hwang, 2011;Castro et al, 2014;Andrade-Silva et al, 2015;Paula et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Necrophilous Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Diverse Habitats in Taiwan

et al. 2019

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Ants are a highly diverse group that not only are often strongly associated with certain habitat types, but also can be found on carcasses and, therefore, in crime scenes. In the present study, a survey of the necrophilous ants in Taiwan was conducted and a preliminary species checklist was provided for the first time. The aim of this study was primarily to offer information on Taiwanese ant species of forensic significance. A total of 50 ant species/morphospecies from 26 genera were collected from large scale regions in Taiwan using combination pig liver bait and pitfall traps, bringing the Taiwanese necrophilous ants up to 55 species from 33 genera within the known Taiwanese ant fauna of 288 species from 71 genera. Seventeen species found in this study are tramp or potentially exotic species, which often dominated the baits. Use of pitfall traps increased the diversity of ants collected relative to hand-collecting from the carcass, adding useful data. These necrophilous ants may play important roles in carcass decomposition and can be useful in reconstructing crime scenes, as certain ants are more common in certain habitat types. This checklist and accompanying habitat information of these ants is likely the first such comprehensive data in Taiwan applying ants to the field of forensic entomology.

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A preliminary investigation of insect succession on carrion in Calabria (southern Italy)

Cited by 27 publications

References 15 publications

Severe post mortem damages by ants on a human corpse

Severe post mortem damages by ants on a human corpse

Elucidation of Some Ecological Traits of Carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Inhabiting Kakuma Campus Grassland, Kanazawa City, Japan

Necrophilous Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Diverse Habitats in Taiwan

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