Assemblage of Necrophagous Diptera in Atlantic Insular Environments and Response to Different Levels of Human Presence

Abstract

Islands act as natural laboratories for ecological studies to explain bioinvasion processes and, in this scenario, necrophagous Diptera have never been used as model organisms. This study aimed to (i) describe assemblages of necrophagous Diptera (Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae) in two insular environments of different origins and distances from mainland, (ii) investigate the effect of anthropogenic impact on the assemblage of carrion flies, (iii) to quantify the establishment of invasive species in the two islands, and (iv) to infer about the conservation status of the islands based on the ecological parameters. Sampling was performed in 2011-2012, in the dry and rainy season. Insects were collected by using traps with chicken liver or sardine baits. In each island, environments exposed to different degrees of human impact were sampled. Ecological analyses were carried out to characterize the assemblages of Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae, with emphasis on the relation between native and invasive species. In total, 99,862 adults of 21 species of blow flies and flesh flies were collected. Overall abundance in the oceanic island was higher than in the continental island, although the richness of species was higher in the latter. The type of bait did not influence diversity of species sampled in either island. No difference was observed in total richness of both families according to the gradient of anthropogenic impact, in both islands. The invasive species Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) was classified as dominant in all environments, irrespective of the anthropogenic impact, which raises concern about the conservation status of each island.

Diversity of sarcosaprophagous Diptera (Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae) in organic and conventional mango plantations in the Brazilian semi-arid region

“…Numerical dominance of calliphorids over sarcophagids was registered in all sampling months, which was greatly explained by the dominance of C. albiceps in both management types, a pattern that was observed for other environments such as rainforest, Caatinga, islands, urban area and sugarcane plantations (Vasconcelos et al, 2015;Carmo and Vasconcelos, 2016). Habitat simplification, as exemplified by the establishment of large monocultures, is prone to favour the replacement of a diverse group of disturbance-sensitive species by a less diverse group of disturbance-adapted species (generalist species).…”

A survey of Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae (Diptera) in semideciduous seasonal forest, Paraná, Brazil

“…The first two are invasive species and the last is exclusive to the New World. Although L. eximia has been suffering from the impacts of invasive species in recent years, it is still well distributed in Brazil (FERRAZ et al, 2010b;VASCONCELOS, 2016). It can be inferred that with a greater collection effort in the country, the known richness of Lucilia would increase because, in review of the genus, Whitworth (2014) described four new species for Brazil.…”

“…Calliphoridae species have different degrees of tolerance to environmental conditions and, therefore, are very affected by human impact in natural environments (SOUSA et al, 2014). Thus, from a conservation point of view, fly communities are directly affected by both environmental degradation and exotic species VASCONCELOS, 2016). As a result, they are excellent indicators of anthropogenic impacts, as well as indicators of forest regeneration and conservation degree (SOUSA et al, 2014).…”

<b>Report of <i>Sphenochernes camponoti </i>(Beier, 1970) (Pseudoscorpiones, Chernetidae) in phoresy on Fanniidae (Diptera)

“…Suspended traps containing bovine spleen in the initial stages of decomposition as bait (Carmo & Vasconcelos, 2016) were used to collect insects in the study areas. At each sample site, a grid of 10 traps was laid out, with 20 m between traps, and exposed for 48 hours.…”