Blow fly responses to semiochemicals produced by decaying carcasses

Johansen, Hilde M.; Solum, Marit; Knudsen, Geir; Hågvar, Eline Benestad; Norli, Hans Ragnar; Aak, Anders

doi:10.1111/mve.12016

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The temperature and weather could have also had a role in this second spike of VOCs. A number of studies have illustrated the role of different cadaveric VOCs in attracting necrophagous insects to cadavers [7,50,[54][55][56][57]. It is possible that a secondary release of VOCs contributed to the attraction, oviposition and subsequent second colonisation of insects seen in this study.…”

Section: Contribution Of Insects To Voc Profilementioning

confidence: 70%

Identification of decomposition volatile organic compounds from surface-deposited and submerged porcine remains

et al. 2019

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Cadaver dogs are routinely used internationally by police and civilian search organisations to locate human remains on land and in water, yet little is currently known about the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are released by a cadaver underwater; how this compares to those given off by a cadaver deposited on land; and ultimately, how this affects the detection of drowned victims by dogs. The aim of this study was to identify the VOCs released by whole porcine (Sus scrofa domesticus) cadavers deposited on the surface and submerged in water using solid phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry (SPME GC-MS) to ascertain if there are notable differences in decomposition odour depending on the deposition location. For the first time in the UK, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the headspace of decomposing porcine cadavers deposited in both terrestrial and water environments have been detected and identified using SPME-GCMS, including thirteen new VOCs not previously detected from porcine cadavers. Distinct differences were found between the VOCs emitted by porcine cadavers in terrestrial and water environments. In total, seventy-four VOCs were identified from a variety of different chemical classes; carboxylic acids, alcohols, aromatics, aldehydes, ketones, hydrocarbons, esters, ethers, nitrogen compounds and sulphur compounds. Only forty-one VOCs were detected in the headspace of the submerged pigs with seventy detected in the headspace of the surface-deposited pigs. These deposition-dependent differences have important implications for the training of cadaver dogs in the UK. If dog training does not account for these depositional differences, there is potential for human remains to be missed. Whilst the specific odours that elicit a trained response from cadaver dogs remain unknown, this research means that recommendations can be made for the training of cadaver dogs to incorporate different depositions, to account for odour differences and mitigate the possibility of missed human remains operationally. 1.1. VOCs from the decomposition of carbohydrates Carbohydrates are broken down into their constituent sugars and

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Section: Contribution Of Insects To Voc Profilementioning

confidence: 70%

Identification of decomposition volatile organic compounds from surface-deposited and submerged porcine remains

et al. 2019

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“…Colonization of a cadaver by necrophagous insects is influenced by environmental parameters (e.g., temperature, relative humidity of the air, rainfall, luminosity) as well as the innate capacity of a given species to detect and reach the resource—using mostly olfactory clues . In a study carried out in Brazil, seasonality strongly affected the abundance of blow flies, as 96.3% of C. megacephala adults were collected in the Summer .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diurnal and Nocturnal Flight Activity of Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in a Rainforest Fragment in Brazil: Implications for the Colonization of Homicide Victims

Soares

Vasconcelos

2016

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Nocturnal flight of blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a controversial issue in forensic entomology. We performed two field experiments to investigate the diurnal and nocturnal activity of six blow fly species in a rainforest fragment in Brazil. Initially, nocturnal (17:30-05:30) versus diurnal (05:30-17:30) flight activity was investigated. Only 3.9% of adults were collected at night, mostly the native species Mesembrinella bicolor, and nocturnal oviposition did not occur. In the second experiment, collection of adults took place at the following intervals: 05:30-08:30, 08:30-11:30, 11:30-14:30, and 14:30-17:30. The proportions of adults did not differ significantly among the four diurnal intervals, except for Hemilucilia segmentaria, which was captured more frequently in the early morning. Calliphoridae has predominantly diurnal behavior, not laying eggs in darkness. The association of the native species M. bicolor, Hemilucilia semidiaphana, and H. segmentaria to forested areas reinforces the forensic relevance of data on their flight pattern.

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“…Every single specimen of L. sericata , L. illustris , C. vomitoria , and C. vicina captured in DMTS‐baited traps in field experiment 21–23 was a gravid female fly with fully developed eggs (Table ). In related studies, DMTS was tested as part of a semiochemical blend or stimulus complex that attracted calliphorid flies (Nilssen et al., ; Aak et al., , ; Aak & Knudsen, ; Frederickx et al., ; Paczkowski et al., ; Johansen et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vertebrate carrion is a transient resource that undergoes temporary and progressive colonization by scatophagous and necrophagous insects (Byrd & Castner, ). The sequential colonization alters nutritional and physical characteristics of the resource (Payne, ; Carter et al., ; George et al., ; Richards et al., ), and causes progressive changes in its odorant composition (e.g., Takács et al., ; Forbes, ; Paczkowski et al., ; Johansen et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the decomposition process is continuous, the physical and chemical changes can conceptually be assigned to distinct stages (Kreitlow, ) with characteristic odor profiles (Vass et al., ; Dekeirsschieter et al., ; Vass, ) and specific guilds of responding insects (Payne, ; Anderson & VanLaerhoven, ; Villet et al., ). In the first (fresh) and second (bloated) stage of carrion decomposition, blow flies (Calliphoridae), flesh flies (Sarcophagidae), and muscid flies (Muscidae) arrive, responding to nitrogen‐ or sulfur‐containing compounds (Nilssen et al., ; Morris et al., ; Aak et al., ; Frederickx et al., ; Paczkowski et al., ), small alcohols (Casaña‐Giner et al., ; Frederickx et al., ; Paczkowski et al., ; Johansen et al., ), and acids (Jones et al., ; Broce, ; Casaña‐Giner et al., ; Frederickx et al., ). During the third (active decay) stage, adult blow flies are absent and large maggot masses prevail.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bimodal cue complex signifies suitable oviposition sites to gravid females of the common green bottle fly

Brodie

Gries

Martins

et al. 2014

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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Gravid females of the common green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata Meigen (Diptera: Calliphoridae), readily locate recently deceased vertebrates as oviposition sites, particularly when these animals have been injured. We investigated semiochemical and visual cues that mediate attraction of gravid females to fresh rat carrion. Female flies were more strongly attracted to incised rat carrion than to intact carrion. They were also attracted to Porapak Q headspace volatile (HSV) extract of incised rat carrion. Analyzing aliquots of Porapak Q HSV extract by gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection revealed nine components [phenol, para-and/or meta-cresol (could not be separated), guaiacol, dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS), phenylacetaldehyde, (E)-2-octenal, nonanal, and tetramethyl pyrazine] that consistently elicited responses from blow fly antennae. In laboratory experiments, a synthetic blend of these nine components was as attractive to gravid females as Porapak Q HSV extract, but blend attractiveness was due entirely to DMTS. In both laboratory and field experiments, increasing doses of DMTS attracted increasingly more flies. Coupled with DMTS, carrion-type color cues (dark red, black) were more effective than bright color cues (white, yellow) in attracting flies. In field experiments, dark traps baited with DMTS captured a total of 214 calliphorid flies (200 L. sericata, 10 Lucilia illustris Meigen, three Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, one Calliphora vomitoria L.), all of which were gravid females. These results support the conclusion that DMTS and dark color represent a bimodal cue complex that signifies suitable oviposition sites to gravid calliphorid females, particularly L. sericata.

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Blow fly responses to semiochemicals produced by decaying carcasses

Cited by 21 publications

References 45 publications

Identification of decomposition volatile organic compounds from surface-deposited and submerged porcine remains

Identification of decomposition volatile organic compounds from surface-deposited and submerged porcine remains

Diurnal and Nocturnal Flight Activity of Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in a Rainforest Fragment in Brazil: Implications for the Colonization of Homicide Victims

Bimodal cue complex signifies suitable oviposition sites to gravid females of the common green bottle fly

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