Effects of temperature on the development of the Neotropical carrion beetle Oxelytrum discicolle (Brullé, 1840) (Coleoptera: Silphidae)

Abstract

Due to its necrophagy, the Neotropical beetle Oxelytrum discicolle (Brullé, 1840) is found in association with human corpses. Its biology can provide important information to determine the postmortem interval (PMI). We studied the life cycle of O. discicolle in the laboratory under three constant temperatures (15, 20 and 28ºC) and under natural conditions (mean T = 18.5ºC) in a cloud forest in Altos de Pipe (10°20'N, 66°55'W) Miranda state, Venezuela. The total time required to complete development from egg to adult emergence shortened as temperatures increased, ranging from 40.00 ± 2.73 days at 15ºC to 20.33 ± 0.89 days at 28ºC.Developmental time on natural conditions was not significantly different from that obtained at 20ºC. This information would be useful to forensic entomology applied to criminal investigations in Venezuela and the Neotropical region.

Phylogenetic placement of Australian carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae)

“…Silphid beetles are separated into two subfamilies: the burying beetles (Nicrophorinae) and the carrion beetles (Silphinae), with two tribes, Silphini and Necrodini, in the latter (Sikes ). Since Silphinae are often observed colonising larger animal carcasses, details regarding their larval development can provide valuable information for human post‐mortem interval (PMI) estimates (Midgley & Villet ; Velásquez & Viloria ; Midgley et al . ).…”

How promptly do blowflies colonise fresh carcasses? A study comparing indoor with outdoor locations

“…By calculating the age of the most developed insect larvae, a minimum time since death can be indicated [6]. Several studies deal with the developmental time of larvae of several fly and beetle species using carcasses as breeding sites [10,1,2,21,13] and with different ways of calculating larval age [20,15]. Corpses in houses or apartments are frequently found in late stages of decay infested by larvae of Calliphoridae, Phoridae, Muscidae or Sarcophagidae.…”

The carrion beetle Oxelytrum discicolle (Coleoptera: Silphidae) and the estimative of the minimum post-mortem interval in a forensic case in Brasília, Brazil

“…The specimens of O. discicolle had a total length ranging from 14.9 to 18.2 mm and the maximum width of prothorax from 3.4 to 5.7 mm, compatible with third instar larvae (Velásquez and Viloria, 2009;Velásquez and Viloria, 2010). We obtained the accumulation of degree-days (ADD) as follows: ADD = y (T -T L ), where "y" is the time required for developing in days; "T" is the temperature (°C) of the environment in which larvae were collected (in this case, it was considered to be the average temperature of the area where the body was found, approximately 20°C at that time of the year, according to the nearest available weather database); and "T L " is the acceptable inferior threshold temperature (°C) for the development of the species, which is 1.5°C (Velásquez and Viloria, 2009).…”