Occurrence of oriental flies associated with indoor and outdoor human remains in the tropical climate of north Malaysia

See

Disney

et al. 2017

tlsr

Abstrak: Lalat mencalai (Diptera: Phoridae) ialah serangga kecil berkepentingan forensik. Ia amat terkenal dengan kepelbagaian spesies di habitat yang berlainan. Namun, dalam konteks entomologi forensik, kajian mengenai lalat mencalai yang dijumpai pada mayat masih kurang diberikan perhatian. Memandangkan terdapat pelbagai laporan yang menunjukkan kemungkinan terdapat kepelbagaian spesies lalat mencalai pada persekitaran mayat atau bangkai mereput, satu kajian pereputan bangkai haiwan di lokasi tertutup telah dijalankan. Kajian ini bertujuan merekodkan kehadiran lalat mencalai pada bangkai arnab yang diletakkan di dalam tong sampah selama 40 hari. Kajian ini dijalankan sebanyak dua replikasi di Tapak Simulasi Sains Forensik, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor. Persampelan lalat mencalai dilakukan mengikut selang masa berlainan di dalam kelambu yang diubahsuai. Di dalam kelambu tersebut, lalat yang terperangkap ditangkap dan diawet di dalam larutan etanol 70%. Larva dan pupa dipelihara sehingga peringkat dewasa untuk pengenalpastian spesies. Hasil kajian mendapati terdapat enam spesies lalat mencalai daripada bangkai, iaitu Dahliphora sigmoides Schmitz ♂, Gymnoptera simplex (Brues) ♀, Megaselia scalaris (Loew) ♂♀, Puliciphora borinquenensis (Wheeler) ♂, Puliciphora obtecta Meijere ♀ and Spiniphora sp. ♀. Lalat D. sigmoides dan P. obtecta adalah rekod baharu di Malaysia manakala Spiniphora sp. adalah spesies yang belum dapat dikenal pasti sehingga ia dihubungkan dengan lalat jantannya. Lalat mencalai didapati berupaya memasuki tong sampah yang ditutup rapat (hari 4-5) dengan Megaselia scalaris sebagai lalat mencalai yang paling banyak ditemui pada bangkai pada hari 4-7 (replikasi pertama) dan hari 5-33 (replikasi kedua). Turut ditemui ialah Sarcophaga sp. (Diptera: Sacrophagidae) yang terawal tiba pada bangkai dan paling lama mendiami bangkai (hari 2-40). Larva Hermetia illucens Linneaus (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) dan Fannia sp. (Diptera: Fanniidae) pula dijumpai pada bangkai ketika tempoh pertengahan peringkat pereputan lanjut. Keputusan ini memperluaskan pengetahuan mengenai kepelbagaian spesies lalat mencalai berkepentingan forensik serta lain-lain lalat di persekitaran bangkai yang dilitupi di Malaysia. * Corresponding author: rmzuha@ukm.edu.my Raja M. Zuha et al. 132Kata kunci: Lalat mencalai, Phoridae, Pereputan, Entomologi forensik, Diversiti Abstract: Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) are small-sized insects of forensic importance. They are well known for diversified species and habitats, but in the context of forensic entomology, scuttle flies' inhabitance of corpses remains inadequately explored. With recent reports indicating the existence of more scuttle fly species possibly inhabiting these environments, a decomposition study using animal carcasses in enclosed environments was conducted. The aim was to record the occurrence of scuttle flies on rabbit carcasses placed in sealed plastic waste bins for a 40-day period. The study was conducted as two replicates in Bangi, Selangor. Sampling was ...

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent findings indicate that more scuttle fly species are likely to appear in forensic cases, including those recorded in succession studies using animal carcasses Kumara et al 2012;Thevan et al 2010;Zuha et al 2014a). Furthermore, information on decomposition and succession patterns in confined spaces is still lacking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scuttle Flies (Diptera: Phoridae) Inhabiting Rabbit Carcasses Confined to Plastic Waste Bins in Malaysia Include New Records and an Undescribed Species

See

Disney

et al. 2017

tlsr

“…On both occasions, only male adults were captured from the carcasses. M. spiracularis has been featured in forensic cases in Malaysia indoors 17,18 but the current developmental data available are the pupae development. 29 At present, the distribution of this species includes Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, 30 China 31 and New Zealand.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…15,16 In Malaysia, scuttle flies have been featured in forensic cases 17 and they are considered as a 'frequent and dominant' indoor group of insects. 18 Discoveries on different species of forensically important scuttle flies recorded in Malaysia and worldwide reveal there are more species likely to be found on human or animal remains. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25] This consequently generates interest to further study the bionomics of scuttle flies in forensic entomology, particularly during decomposition process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indoor decomposition study in Malaysia with special reference to the scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae)

Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences

Ankasha

Disney

et al. 2016

Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) are a diversified insect group of forensic importance. Their frequent presence on human corpses indoors and in concealed environments can be the sole indicators to estimate the minimum post mortem interval (PMI min ). However, bionomics of scuttle flies on decomposing animal carcasses are rarely documented indoors. The objective of this research is to observe and document the occurrence of scuttle flies on decomposing animal carcass placed inside a portable cabin maintained at room temperature (%25.0°C) in Bangi, Malaysia. This study was conducted in two rounds for a period of 40-day each and samplings were carried out in different intervals. Adult scuttle flies were aspirated directly from the carcass and preserved in 70% ethanol. Their larvae and pupae were reared until adult stage to facilitate identification. Megaselia scalaris (Loew), Megaselia spiracularis (Schmitz) and Dohrniphora cornuta (Bigot) were the scuttle flies found on the carcasses with M. scalaris being the earliest and dominant to colonize the body. This cosmopolitan species proved to be the best indicator to estimate PMI min indoor but in the increased presence of other fly species, it might be relegated to a secondary role. The scuttle flies were also found to coexist with other dipterans of forensic importance in an indoor environment, mainly Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). This information expands the knowledge on the bionomics of scuttle flies on decomposing animal remains indoors. Ó 2015 Hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The International Association of Law and Forensic Sciences (IALFS).

“…It is a forensically important blowfly species that predominantly colonising corpses in Malaysia and Thailand (Lee et al 2004;Bunchu et al 2012;Kumara et al 2012). Other than charting the cephalopharyngeal skeleton growth, its correlation with the development of larval body length was also determined to show its potential alternative as growth parameter in PMI min estimation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary assessment of cephalopharyngeal skeleton length and body length of Hemipyrellia ligurriens (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae as potential parameters to estimate minimum post mortem interval

Eliza

2018

Egypt J Forensic Sci

Entomological evidence can be utilized in forensic investigation to estimate the elapsed time after death or minimum post mortem interval estimation (PMI min ). This estimation is based on the age of dipterous specimens feeding on decomposing human tissues, which commonly refers to their larval body length. The objective of this research was to look for alternatives to larval body length which could be impaired by specimen handling and subsequently causing inaccuracy in PMI min estimation. In this research, development of forensic blow fly, Hemipyrellia ligurriens (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), based on larval cephalopharyngeal skeleton length, was described for the first time. Development of H. ligurriens was represented by body length and cephalopharyngeal skeleton consisting anterodorsal process to dorsal cornu (ADP-DC), anterodorsal process to ventral cornu (ADP-VC) and dorsal cornu to ventral cornu (DC-VC). The cephalopharyngeal skeletons proportionally developed with larval body development, but periods of plateau existed between 0 and 10 h and 24-30 h, suggesting ecdysis periods of larvae. Data measurements were more consistent in cephalopharyngeal skeleton length than in larval body length, and there were strong positive significant correlations, r > 0.85 (p < 0.05). These findings warranted further investigations to examine cephalopharyngeal skeleton as an alternative growth parameter to larval body length.