The Effects of Gunshot Residue Components (Pb, Ba, and Sb) on the Life History Traits of Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of gunshot residue (GSR) components (Pb, Sb, and Ba) on the life history parameters of Lucilia sericata (Meigen, 1826) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). This experiment was carried out at the Zoology Department, the Ondokuz Mayıs University in 2020. About 50 larvae, respectively were exposed to the chicken liver with four different concentrations of GSR particles and life history parameters recorded. A two-way analysis of variance (Two way ANOVA) was used on the larval weight, and length, development time, percentage of pupal and larval survival. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to assess the association between life-history parameters and the concentration of GSR. The total development times decreased with increasing Sb, Ba, and Pb concentrations in the diets 1–3 d when compared to the control The results showed that Ba and Sb significantly decreased larval and pupal survival and GSR decreased the pupa and adult weight as compared to the control. We concluded that life-history parameters of L. sericata are sensitive to GSR residue and heavy metal changes in the environment. The presence of gunshot residue in the corpse should be kept in mind in a criminal investigation.

A review on the effects of heavy metals on the development of blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

“…The most common were rats (Heer & Singh, 2019;Kaur, 2016;Singh & Bhupinderjit, 2017) injected with different concentrations of heavy metals, and artificial diets (Bessa et al, 2021;Moe et al, 2001;Simkiss et al, 1993). Additionally, ground beef (Al-Misned, 2001, 2003, chicken liver (Kökdener et al, 2022;Kökdener & Yılmaz, 2021), and pork liver (Malejko et al, 2020;Shulman et al, 2017) were used. The least common food used (n = 1) was cat food (Pölkki et al, 2012), beef liver (Nascarella et al, 2003), seal liver and fish (Nuorteva & Nuorteva, 1982), and piglet (Motta et al, 2015).…”

“…Three studies conducted using lead (Bessa et al, 2021; Kökdener & Yılmaz, 2021; Shulman et al, 2017), and one using barium and antimony (Kökdener & Yılmaz, 2021) found that low concentrations of these metals (ranging between 1 and 25 μg/g, and between 0.2 and 0.50 μg/g respectively) were associated with a decrease in the developmental rate for all the species studied ( L. sericata , Lucilia cuprina , and Calliphora vicina ); however, when the larvae were exposed to higher concentrations (between 1 and 2 μg/g, and 50 and 100 μg/g) their developmental time increased.…”

“…Similarly, Bessa et al (2021) found that both L. cuprina larval and pupal mortality increased as the concentration of lead acetate increased. Kökdener and Yılmaz (2021) found that barium and antimony were more toxic than lead for the larval stage of L. sericata . One study conducted by Simkiss et al (1993) found that pupal mortality of L. sericata individuals exposed to cadmium treatments was higher than the control but was not statistically significant.…”

“…Larval and pupal weight decreased as cadmium (Malejko et al, 2020; Moe et al, 2001), thallium (Malejko et al, 2020) lead acetate (Heer & Singh, 2019; Kaur, 2016), cadmium chloride (Kaur, 2016; Singh & Bhupinderjit, 2017), copper chloride and zinc chloride (Kökdener et al, 2022), and mercuric chloride and arsenic trioxide (Kaur, 2016) concentrations increased for L. sericata and C. megacephala . In their gunshot residue (GSR) study, Kökdener and Yılmaz (2021) found that both L. sericata pupal and adult weights were similar across antimony and lead concentrations (but still lower than the control group), while they were significantly lower for all barium concentrations. Shulman et al (2017) found that the mass of the C. vicina pupae was significantly smaller as the cadmium concentration increased, while for lead it was only significant at the highest concentration.…”

Effects of Lead on the Growth and Development of Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)

“…En az erişkin sayısı konsantrasyon 4 (2 µg/g) olduğu besi yerinde görülmüştür. Çalışmamızla uyumlu olarak, Haq vd., (2012a) M. domestica , Heer & Singh, (2019) C. megacephala, Kökdener & Yılmaz, (2021) L. sericata ile yaptıkları çalışmalarda artan kurşun konsantrasyonunun larval ölüm oranını arttırdığını göstermişlerdir. Ayrıca Safaee vd., (2014), D. melanogaster ile yaptıkları çalışmada kurşun varlığının larvaların hayatta kalma potansiyelini azalttığını göstermişlerdir ve çalışmamızla uyumludur.…”