Yearly activity patterns in southern Victoria (Australia) of seasonally active carrion insects

Coleopterofauna found on fresh and frozen rabbit carcasses in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

“…This happens because the environmental variables may slow down or speed up insects arrival. Among these factors, season, environmental temperature and air humidity affect insects development (Marchenko, 2001) and species presence (Archer and Elgar, 2003). Body access is another important factor (Mann et al, 1990).…”

Determining the season of death from the family composition of insects infesting carrion

“…Crime-scene analysts, death investigators and coroners, who are not necessarily familiar with carrion insects, should be trained to collect, preserve, and identify these remnants to family level. Molecular biology techniques may eventually be used to identify these insect remains (Archer & Elgar, 2003). Forensic entomologists may be able to help resolve the most complicated cases.…”

“…Logistic regression is utilized to demonstrate that the successional occurrence of some carrion insects can be predicted using accumulation of degree-days and seasonal effects, which may be used to increase the reliability of PMI estimations for a given geographical areas (Michaud & Moreau, 2009). Archer & Elgar (2003) propose a method in which seasonal dating is based on entomological remains left by seasonally active taxa, such as pupal cases of flies and components of the exoskeleton. However, their method depends on identifying insect remains to species level, which may be difficult, even for experienced taxonomists.…”

“…In spite of its importance, the association between carrion insects and their season of appearance on corpses, and therefore the possibility of predicting the season of death using these organisms, has rarely been investigated (but see, e.g., Archer & Elgar, 2003), and, to the best of our knowledge, has never been statistically modelled.…”

“…Establishing the season of death can be crucial in determining/eliminating suspects and confirming alibis in the case of murder, accidental death, suicide and even when the death is from natural causes Geberth, 1996). The season of death can also have important implications for legal matters such as inheritance and insurance (Henssge et al, 2002).In spite of its importance, the association between carrion insects and their season of appearance on corpses, and therefore the possibility of predicting the season of death using these organisms, has rarely been investigated (but see, e.g., Archer & Elgar, 2003), and, to the best of our knowledge, has never been statistically modelled.For this reason, it is proposed here to use a statistical approach, a logit-based regression method, to model the season in which death occurred in terms of a function of the area where the carcass was exposed (sunlit or shaded) and the relative abundance of arthropod families found in the carrion. This type of model, which is unusual in the field of forensic entomology, is called a logit model, or specifically in our case, a baseline-category logit model (Agresti, 2002).…”