Insects Associated to Crime Scenes in the Northeast of Brazil: Consolidation of Collaboration Between Entomologists and Criminal Investigation Institutes

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In Brazil, many studies on Forensic Entomology analyze the activity and succession of flies in animal models. Data on human corpses are always collected and evaluated in isolated cases. This study aimed to list the insect species associated with crime scenes investigated by the Technical-Scientific Institute of criminal expertise of the State of Rio Grande do Norte (ITEP-RN), in the Northeast of Brazil, a region exposed to high homicide rates. In total, 10 cases were investigated, of which 50% were in the initial stage of decomposition. The examined bodies were colonized by species of three orders of insects, Diptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. The order Diptera represented 96% of the total insects, being represented by the following species: Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Chrysomya putoria (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), and Cochliomyia macellaria, (Fabricius) (Diptera: Calliphoridae); Musca domestica (Linnaeus) (Diptera: Muscidae); and unidentified females of the Sarcophagidae family. Among beetles, the occurrence of Dermestes maculatus (DeGeer) (Coleoptera: Dermestidae), Necrobia rufipes (De Geer) (Coleoptera: Cleridae), and Onthophagus sp. (Scarabaeidae), as well as unidentified specimens of the families Tenebrionidae and Histeridae were recorded. In addition, specimens of Ectatomma sp. (Formicidae) were also recorded. Considering that the Rio Grande do Norte state presents a high homicide rate and the last cadaver study was conducted over a decade ago, these records update the list of species associated with cadaveric decomposition and contribute to consolidate forensic entomology in the Northeast region.</jats:p>

Infrared spectroscopy and forensic entomology: Can this union work? A literature review

“…Forensic entomology has been assisting for centuries to resolve legal issues [2,[93][94][95][96], however, its application requires the correct identification of the taxa (immature and adults), as well as bionomic and ecological information of the cadaverous fauna [57]. Besides, not every investigative team has entomologists, and this absence can interfere and underestimate the use of insects to acquire information about when, where, and how the death occurred.…”

Insect Decline—A Forensic Issue?

“…Once you have gained an overview from the literature, you will quickly realise that there are little or no data available for the families that govern forensic entomology. Here, taxa from the order Diptera and Coleoptera dominate carrion globally and thus also human cadavers [23][24][25][26][27][28]. Studies on the decline of Coleoptera mainly deals with Carabidae, saproxylic beetles, or aquatic taxa, or highly specialised species like fireflies.…”

First report of Peckia (Squamatodes) ingens (Walker, 1849) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) colonizing human corpse in the Neotropical region

“…The association of blow flies with human cadavers has received much attention in the Neotropical region (Andrade et al, 2005;Pujol-Luz et al, 2006;Kosmann et al, 2011;Thyssen et al, 2018;Meira et al, 2020;Eulalio et al, 2021), which may be associated with its higher frequency in those resources. However, other groups have stood out in the cadavers' colonization (e.g., Sarcophagidae), especially in indoor environmental cases (Vasconcelos et al, 2014;Vairo et al, 2017), high heights apartments (Vairo et al, 2017), in hanged (Vasconcelos et al, 2019) and charred bodies (Ramos et al, 2018).…”