Background
Studies on the insect fauna of animal corpses, used as a vertebrate model, may help forensic investigation cases to estimate the post-mortem-interval (PMI), cause of death, and crime-scene location. Likewise, entomofauna of buried corpses can assist in determining the post-burial-interval (PBI), movement of the body or hiding of the crime. The bodies buried under the soil decompose at a slower rate than the body exposed. Also, there are fewer insects that can go underground to locate the corpse. Such types of studies on the insect fauna of buried carrion can help in forensic investigation cases. The current study aims to determine the succession of a goat carcass buried shallowly in an outdoor habitat of the Aligarh Region, North India.
Results
In the present study, we examined a goat carcass buried at a depth of nine inches to determine the type of insects capable of colonizing buried animal carcass in the study area of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. We have found five species of Diptera, three species of Coleoptera, one Hemipteran species, and one Hymenopteran species. Adult Dipterans found during different samplings were Megaselia scalaris (Loew 1866), Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius 1794), and Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830). Dipterans’ immature stages were found to be of Synthesiomyia nudiseta (van der Wulp, 1883) and Hydrotaea capensis (Wiedemann, 1830) Megaselia scalaris. Adults of Saprinus quadriguttatus (Fabricius, 1798), Saprinus splendens (Paykull, 1811), and Onthophagous quadridentatus (Fabricius, 1798) of order Coleoptera. Adult Cydnus species (Fabricius, 1803) of Hemiptera and Dorylus species (Fabricius, 1793) of Hymenoptera have also been recorded. During the sampling, the authors reported the stages of carcass disintegration and the insects associated with it.
Conclusions
Flies, beetles, and ants have been recorded in association with the buried goat carcass, which may add to the knowledge of colonization of buried bodies in India and around the globe. S. nudiseta, H. capensis, and M. scalaris, which are found on the goat carrion in the current study, have also been reported on human corpses in the past. Furthermore, M. scalaris found consistently on two sampling dates beneath the ground on the goat carcass and was also seen running on the grave’s surface. In addition, authors have reported several species belonging to different order and families, corresponding to various stages of decomposition of corpse which were earlier not known from buried corpses from India. So, it is crucial and may have implications in medicolegal cases.
