The arthropods of corpses from above ground and from deep below

Abstract

The Acari are one of the most ubiquitous arthropod inhabitants and associates of human and animal remains. Over 150 years ago, Jean Pierre Mégnin proposed that mites arrive at corpses at two particular stages of the decomposition process, that is within the first and the sixth waves of arthropod arrival or colonisation event (Mégnin, 1895). Now we know that mites actually arrive at each stage of the decomposition process of corpses, in a continuum (Rai et al., 2021). Interestingly, the mite fauna of cadavers is very diverse, and mite species composition varies as decomposition progresses and according to the environment where decomposition occurs (Baker, 2009; Braig & Perotti, 2009). In fact, specific stages of decomposition can be characterised by the associated mite species (Kamaruzaman et al., 2018; Leclercq & Verstraeten, 1988; Mašán et al., 2013; Mégnin, 1895).