A Preliminary Study of Body Decomposition and Arthropod Succession in an Arid Area in Northwest China During Summer

Abstract

The study of insect fauna and their development and succession patterns on decaying cadavers is crucial to promoting insect evidence as a useful tool in forensic science, particularly for estimating the postmortem interval (PMI). Body decomposition and arthropod succession are affected by many factors and exhibit substantial regional variations; therefore, detailed succession studies in different biogeographic regions are required for understanding the successional patterns of insects in various environments. This study was conducted in the summer of 2021 using three domestic pig carcasses (Sus scrofa domestica L., 1758) in the field of Shizuishan City, Ningxia, Northwest China. A total of 40 species of necrophagous insects belonging to three orders and 16 families were collected. Among Diptera, Lucilia sericata (Meigen,1826), Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius,1794), and Phormia regina (Meigen,1826) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) were the dominant species. As for Coleoptera, the dominant species changed throughout the process of carcass decomposition from Saprinus semipunctatus (Fabricius,1792) (Coleoptera: Histeridae) to Dermestes maculatus DeGeer,1774 and Dermestes frischii Kugelann,1792 (Coleoptera: Dermestidae). The carcasses desiccated rapidly and reached the remains stage under extreme conditions of high temperatures and low humidity, after which a large amount of dried tissue of the carcasses attracted populations of Coleoptera, particularly Dermstidae, which were abundant and remained until the end of the experiment on day 50. The current study is the first forensic entomological investigation of succession in Northwest China and provides basic data for the estimation of PMI during summer in this region.

Succession of medico-legal important flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) in the temporal gradient of pig decomposition in the Brazilian Cerrado

“…Given the marked climatic seasonality within the Maranhão Cerrado region, it became evident that these indicators must be identified separately for the dry and rainy seasons due to inherent variations in flesh fly communities across these periods. Season-specific climatic factors such as temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity play a pivotal role in shaping the cadaver's decay process 15 , thereby influencing the composition of flesh fly communities during each season. Additionally, the limited congruence observed in flesh fly communities across the two seasons underscores the necessity of employing tailored indicator species for accurate assessment in each distinct season.…”

“…These initial inquiries commonly employ carcass models of alternative vertebrate species, such as pigs, rats, rabbits, cats, dogs, among others, to acquire insights into the succession pattern and potential overlap of both adult and immature species across the process of cadaver decomposition. Pig carcasses are the most used in forensic studies, because they have some similarities with humans in size (amount of biomass), integument, proportion and distribution of hair, size of the rib cage, specificities of internal organs and also similarity of the fauna associated with decomposition 3 , 4 , 7 – 15 . These investigations require diverse environmental contexts, encompassing various seasons and regions characterized by distinct land use and coverage, including urban, rural, or natural vegetation areas.…”

Temperature-Dependent Development of Nitidula rufipes (Linnaeus, 1767) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and Its Significance in Estimating Minimum Postmortem Interval

“…A total of 8 case reports and 63 succession studies in forensic entomology involving Nitidulidae were retrieved ( Table S5 [ 2 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 71 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , ...…”

“…A field succession study was conducted during the summer (July to August 2021) in Shizuishan City, Ningxia, China (38°98′ N, 106°52′ E) [ 71 ]. Upon completion, twenty pairs of N. rufipes adults were collected from three pig ( Sus scrofa domestica L.) carcasses and transported to the Laboratory of Forensic Entomology, Soochow University for further breeding.…”

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: , Table S1: Development data of N. rufipes , Table S2: Larval body length data of N. rufipes , Table S3: The widths of head capsules data of N. rufipes , Table S4: The distance of urogomphi data of N. rufipes , Table S5: Nitidulidae with species identified, and their ecological niche information in nearly 30 years of succession studies and case reports in forensic entomology [ 28 , 59 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 71 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 ].…”