Dipterofauna Associated With Rat Carcasses in the Atlantic Forest, Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

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.

The Muscidae (Diptera) from the Atlantic Forest of Serra de Paranapiacaba, southestern Brazil

“…There are a number of studies with inventory of Diptera in the Neotropics (e.g., Carvalho & Couri, 1991;Couri et al, 2000;Pamplona et al, 2000;Krüger et al, 2010;Borkent et al, 2018;Zafalon-Silva et al, 2018), on the other hand, several studies focused on groups with agricultural or forensic importance (e.g., Ferraz et al, 2009;Mulieri et al, 2011;Garcia et al, 2003;Cavallari et al, 2015;Carvalho et al, 2017;Olea et al, 2017). With regard to Muscidae, there are a number of inventories in Brazil, but unbalanced between the different Brazilian biomes and states.…”

Olimpíadas De Caxiuanã: Uma Ferramenta Para O Ensino De Entomologia Nas Escolas De Ensino Fundamental Da Floresta Nacional De Caxiuanã, Melgaço-Pa

“…Dípteros da família Calliphoridae são de importância para diversas áreas de estudo. Possuem potencial para serem aplicados como indicadoras forenses (OLIVEIRA-COSTA, 2011;CARVALHO et al, 2017;AZEVEDO et al, 2018), auxiliando principalmente na determinação do intervalo pós-morte de um cadáver, mas também de outras investigações criminais, e como indicadoras ambientais LUZ et al, 2020a;b), inferindo indiretamente o grau de preservação de um ambiente baseado em suas características biológicas de sinantropia.…”