Efeito da testosterona no desenvolvimento de Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Medico-Legal or Forensic Entomology can be defined as the application of the study of insects and other arthropods which, in association with criminalistic processes, have the the purpose of desovering useful information for an investigation. Nowadays, the insects are a reliable alternative for toxicological analysis, especially when tissues and liquids usually required for this purpose are absent, once insects store some ingested substances which can change their growth rate, being this a relevant fact in the determination of the cause and the time since death. Previous experiments in our laboratory on the testosterone effects on body decomposition suggested that this hormone could interfere in the cadaveric fauna development. With the objective of investigating testosterone influence on the Chrysomya albiceps larval development, a common species in cadaveric fauna, an experimental study was done from eggs of a laboratory maintained colony of this species. The eggs were divided in four groups of 30 and put in glass flasks with 50g of artificial diet in each of them, with testosterone being added in two of them. The larvae were weighted each 12 h during all interval of the larval growing. The studied larvae did not present any difference in the stages of development, but larvae from the experimental group had 5 times the weight of the larvae from the control group and with bigger size. This result shows a significant influence of testosterone in the growth of C. albiceps.

Bait and habitat preferences, and temporal variability of social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) attracted to vertebrate carrion

In addition to feeding on carrion tissues and fluids, social wasps can also prey on immature and adult carrion flies, thereby reducing their populations and retarding the decomposition process of carcasses. In this study, we report on the occurrence and behavior of social wasps attracted to vertebrate carrion. The collections were made monthly from September 2006 to October 2007 in three environments (rural, urban, and forest) in six municipalities of southeast Brazil, using baited bottle traps. We collected Agelaia pallipes (Olivier, 1791) (n = 143), Agelaia vicina (Saussure, 1854) (n = 106), Agelaia multipicta (Haliday, 1836) (n = 18), and Polybia paulista Ihering, 1896 (n = 3). The wasps were observed feeding directly on the baits and preying on adult insects collected in the traps. Bait and habitat associations, temporal variability of social wasps, and possible forensic implications of their actions are discussed. © 2011 Entomological Society of America.

Detecção e estudo sobre o efeito da metanfetamina e do ecstasy no desenvolvimento de imaturos de três espécies de Chrysomya (Diptera: Calliphoridae) de importância forense

Pós-graduação em Biologia Geral e Aplicada - IBB

Análise dos processos de decomposição e sucessão ecológica em carcaças de suínos (Sus scrofa L.) mortos por disparo de arma de fogo e overdose de cocaína e protocolo de procedimento diante de corpo de delito

Pós-graduação em Biologia Geral e Aplicada - IBB

Análise faunística de dípteros necrófagos: ecologia e aplicação forense

Pós-graduação em Biologia Geral e Aplicada - IBB

Força de interações interespecíficas e agregação larval em moscas-varejeiras

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Processos auto-organizados: efeitos de substâncias químicas que agem no sistema nervoso sobre o desenvolvimento e padrão de dispersão larval pós-alimentar de dípteros (Calliphoridae e Muscidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Sazonalidade, sinantropia e preferência por iscas de dípteros necrófagos da região de Rio Claro, SP

Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Zoologia) - IBRC

Dinâmica e modelagem ecológica de dípteros de importância forense

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Dinâmica de interações intra e interespecíficas em moscas-varejeiras sob a ação de psicofármacos: aplicações ecológicas no contexto forense

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Quantitative and qualitative dynamics of exotic and native blowflies ( Diptera: Calliphoridae) with migrations among municipalities

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Estudo da dispersão pós-alimentar em larvas de moscas-varejeiras via autômatos celulares

In this paper, a computational analysis, using a cellular automata model, has been developed to analyze post-feeding dispersal behavior of blow y larvae. This model aimed to: simulate the exponential decline of pupal number in relation to the feed source and spatial oscillation due to larval interaction during dispersal; study whether the prior pupal presence in uences distribution patterns of larval frequency; and compare obtained unidirectional dispersal patterns to the cross-dimensional ones. The cellular automata (CA) model was able to successfully reproduce the essential features of the larval dispersal process and, thus, show the importance of local interaction in the studied dispersal process dynamics. Oscillations could be explained by the interaction among dispersing larvae and intrinsic pupation time. The box size and the initial larval density were important factors for the experiment because they in uenced the results. Results showed that the unidirectional dispersal could be used to simulate the larval dispersion that occurs in the natural environment, because both models had a similar result. These results are important to understand how di erent factors can in uence the dynamics of blow y larval dispersal, bringing important results for behavioral ecology and forensic entomology

Efeitos de perfurações artificiais no processo de decomposição em Sus Scrofa (L.) e confecção de uma check-list da entomofauna de Diptera visitante, durante inverno e verão, na região sudeste

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Seasonal Blowfly Distribution and Abundance in Fragmented Landscapes. Is It Useful in Forensic Inference about Where a Corpse Has Been Decaying?

Blowflies are insects of forensic interest as they may indicate characteristics of the environment where a body has been laying prior to the discovery. In order to estimate changes in community related to landscape and to assess if blowfly species can be used as indicators of the landscape where a corpse has been decaying, we studied the blowfly community and how it is affected by landscape in a 7,000 km(2) region during a whole year. Using baited traps deployed monthly we collected 28,507 individuals of 10 calliphorid species, 7 of them well represented and distributed in the study area. Multiple Analysis of Variance found changes in abundance between seasons in the 7 analyzed species, and changes related to land use in 4 of them (Calliphora vomitoria, Lucilia ampullacea, L. caesar and L. illustris). Generalised Linear Model analyses of abundance of these species compared with landscape descriptors at different scales found only a clear significant relationship between summer abundance of C. vomitoria and distance to urban areas and degree of urbanisation. This relationship explained more deviance when considering the landscape composition at larger geographical scales (up to 2,500 m around sampling site). For the other species, no clear relationship between land uses and abundance was found, and therefore observed changes in their abundance patterns could be the result of other variables, probably small changes in temperature. Our results suggest that blowfly community composition cannot be used to infer in what kind of landscape a corpse has decayed, at least in highly fragmented habitats, the only exception being the summer abundance of C. vomitoria.

Occurrences of flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) on human cadavers in Switzerland, and their importance as forensic indicators.

From 1993 to 2008, criminal investigations were conducted in the western part of Switzerland with special attention to blowfly and flesh fly species in order to estimate the post-mortem interval when requested by the police authorities. Flesh flies were found in only 33 cases out of 160. Five species of the genus Sarcophaga were identified (S. africa, S. argyrostoma, S. caerulescens, S. similis and S. sp.). The main species found on corpses (larval stage) was S. argyrostoma. The thermal constant (K) calculated for this species in Switzerland is 380.6 ± 16.3 (mean ± S.D.) degree-days. With the exception of S. caerulescens, found three times in the larval stage on corpses, the three other species are of minor forensic importance. S. argyrostoma is found during summer and indoors. This species colonises dead bodies, usually the same day as blowfly species, and it could be used to estimate the post-mortem interval. Other species are discussed in the light of current knowledge on their biology and ecology. It is recommended that voucher material be deposited in a museum, allowing further studies by relevant specialists, thereby helping investigators and avoiding misidentifications.