Dermestes frischii and D. undulatus (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) on a Human Corpse in Southern Italy: First Report

Abstract

Dermestidae and other necrophagous beetles may aid in the estimation of post-mortem interval, especially in situations where decompostionen is advanced and therefore, insect succession patterns are the best method available. We report, for the first time, Dermestes frischii Kugelann, 1792 and D. undulatus larvae and adults from a human body discovered in Cassano, Cosenza province, southern Italy. The corpse was a 88 year old male. The cadaver was dry and in outdoor location. The other insect species associated with Dermestes spp were Necrobia ruficollis (adults and larvae) and Chrysomya albiceps (Diptera, Calliphoridae) (empty puparium). The time of death was estimated to have been 25 days prior to the finding of the body, based on police investigations and statements of the caretaker. Beetles collected from corpses and crime scenes can be helpful to estimate the colonization interval in summer season and at dry environmental conditions that are to be expected to increase du to climate change.

A mummified human corpse and associated insects of forensic importance in indoor conditions

“…It is precisely these two species that have been most often recorded on cadavers in 'outdoor' conditions. This is confirmed as well by the work of other researchers [1,9,10]. The species most frequently recorded in the so-called 'indoor' conditions has been D. peruvianus [8].…”

“…This only confirms the legitimacy of its occurrence on the remains of a decedent in a flat in a block in the centre of a city. The development of calliphorids, including C. vicina, requires a substrate of suitable humidity [10]. Given that the remains must have been in the apartment for a period greater than several months, gradually succumbing to the process of mummification, the dried-out body was not a suitable habitat for the continued development of these flies.…”

“…Cases of observation of larvae and adults or signs of the activity of these beetles on human corpses have been described by, inter alia, Voigt [1, 3-10, 16, 20-25]. To date, in cases of skin beetles of the genus Dermestes found in human remains, observations have involved species such as Dermestes frischii [8][9][10], D. (D.) undulatus [8,10], D. ater [7,8,21], D. bicolor [8], D. carnivorus [21], D. maculatus [2,4,8,11,15,22,26], D. lardarius [1,8,23,27], and D. peruvianus [8]. As shown by the analysis of 81 cases of observations of skin beetles in human remains, the species most frequently observed in France have been D. (D.) frischii and D. (D.) undulatus [8].…”

“…These structures were also included in descriptions by, inter alia, Voigt [3] from Denmark; Schroeder et al [5] from Germany; Arnaldos et al [22] from Spain; and Bonacci et al [10] from Italy. In our case, the total weight of frass collected from the body and clothing was 1734 g. The papers we have analysed [10,36] indicated the presence of frass, but not its weight. Amounts of frass are difficult to quantify macroscopically; therefore, in our case, we measured its weight.…”

“…Among a large number of experimental papers, all highly advanced in both methodical and technical terms are also papers describing specific cases relating to observations of insects on human remains accidentally discovered in extremely diverse places and conditions (natural vs anthropogenic; outdoors vs indoors), often after the passage of many months, or even years, after death [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. The authors of these publications describe extremely diverse cases that certainly extend our knowledge in the field of forensic science.…”