Insects of forensic importance from Rio Grande do Sul state in southern Brazil

The experiment was conducted throughout the year 2005, at the Universidade Federal de Pelotas campus. The objectives of the study were to analyze the decomposition of rabbit (Oryctolagus cunniculus L.) with mean weight 2.67 Kg carcass and describe the interaction of insects acting on it, as well as the insect's potential use in legal medicine. We collected 5.239 insect specimens; 1.827 of them were obtained from larvae collected from carcasses and reared. The specimens were identified and 20 species were of forensic importance. The species Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann, 1819) and Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) (Diptera, Calliphoridae) were better indicators of post-mortem interval (PMI) because they occurred in all seasons and were the first to reach the carcass. Hemilucilia semidiaphana (Rondani, 1850), H. segmentaria (Fabricius, 1805) (Diptera, Calliphoridae), Muscina stabulans (Fallén, 1817) and Synthesiomyia nudiseta (Wulp, 1883) (Diptera, Muscidae) can disclose death time because they occur only in certain months of the year. Oxyletrum discicolle (Brullé, 1840) (Coleoptera, Silphidae) and Dermestes maculates De Geer, 1774 (Coleoptera, Desmestidae) were found in advanced stages of decomposition.

[Recueil. Album provenant de la famille Grisi-Gautier-Bergerat]

Ancien possesseur : Gautier, Judith (1845-1917)

Tabela de vida de fertilidade de três espécies neotropicais de Trichogrammatidae em ovos de hospedeiros alternativos como critério de seleção hospedeira

Tabela de vida de fertilidade de três espécies neotropicais de Trichogrammatidae em ovos de hospedeiros alternativos como critério de seleção hospedeira. O objetivo deste trabalho foi selecionar o hospedeiro alternativo que permita o melhor desenvolvimento das três espécies neotropicais de tricogramatídeos, Trichogramma atopovirilia Oatman & Platner, 1983; Trichogramma bruni Nagaraja, 1983 e Trichogrammatoidea annulata De Santis, 1972, utilizando-se como parâmetro comparativo as tabelas de vida de fertilidade nos respectivos hospedeiros. Foram estimados a duração média de uma geração (T), taxa líquida de reprodução (Ro), razão infinitesimal (r m) e a razão finita de aumento (λ). A tabela de vida de fertilidade pode ser utilizada para selecionar o hospedeiro alternativo mais adequado para as espécies de tricogramatídeos. Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton, 1865) (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) foi o hospedeiro alternativo mais adequado para criação de T. annulata e de T. bruni, enquanto que para T. atopovirilia, Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller, 1879) (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) e/ou C. cephalonica foram os hospedeiros mais adequados. Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier, 1819) (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) apresentou baixa capacidade de aumento populacional para as três espécies de parasitóides, sendo, portanto, uma espécie inadequada como hospedeiro alternativo para as mesmas.

Morfologia do exoesqueleto de adultos de Memphis moruus stheno (Pritwittz) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Charaxinae)

O presente trabalho visa fornecer subsídios para estudos morfológicos comparativos de Charaxinae neotropicais. Memphis moruus stheno (Prittwitz, 1865) é a segunda espécie neotropical de Anaeini e a primeira do gênero Memphis a ter sua morfologia detalhada. A morfologia externa é apresentada com descrições, ilustrações e imagens de microscopia eletrônica de varredura de estruturas da cabeça e apêndices cefálicos, região cervical, tórax e apêndices torácicos, abdome e genitálias masculina e feminina. A morfologia de M. moruus stheno é comparada com uma espécie do gênero proximamente relacionado Zaretis Hübner, [1819].

Insects associated with exposed decomposing bodies in the Colombian Andean Coffee Region

In Colombia, mainly classic forensic medicine methods were used to clarify crimes until 2004. However, other disciplines, including forensic entomology, started to be considered only after the New Accusatory System introduction in Bogotá and the Coffee Region in 2005. In order to provide tools for obtaining evidentiary material elements in judicial trials, it is presented here the succession of insects throughout the decomposition process of an exposed carcass of Sus scrofa Linnaeus 1758 (Suidae) and the Occurrence Matrix of colonizing species. This process was evaluated under ambient conditions in the Andean rural area of the city of Pereira, in the Mundo Nuevo district, located in a pre-montane Wet Forest area, from October to November 2006. A sampling period of 27 days and 3198 individuals were collected. We found these colonizing species in the following stages of decomposition: Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann, 1819) fresh; Hemilucilia semidiaphana (Rondani, 1850), Oxelytrum discicolle (Brullé, 1840), and Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius 1775) bloated; Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann 1819), Compsomyiops verena (Walker, 1849), Ophyra aenescens (Wiedemann, 1830) and Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758 active; Fannia sp. advanced and Stearibia nigriceps (Meigen, 1826) remains. This study provides support tools to define the Post Mortem Interval that may be used by experts from government institutions and laboratories officially accredited.

Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) and Hemilucilia segmentaria (Fabricius) (Diptera, Calliphoridae) used to estimate the postmortem interval in a forensic case in Minas Gerais, Brazil

ABSTRACT. Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) and Hemilucilia segmentaria (Fabricius) (Diptera, Calliphoridae) used to estimate the postmortem interval in a forensic case in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The corpse of a man was found in a Brazilian highland savanna (cerrado) in the state of Minas Gerais. Fly larvae were collected at the crime scene and arrived at the laboratory three days afterwards. From the eight pre-pupae, seven adults of Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) emerged and, from the two larvae, two adults of Hemilucilia segmentaria (Fabricius, 1805) were obtained. As necrophagous insects use corpses as a feeding resource, their development rate can be used as a tool to estimate the postmortem interval. The post-embryonary development stage of the immature collected on the body was estimated as the difference between the total development time and the time required for them to become adults in the lab. The estimated age of the maggots from both species and the minimum postmortem interval were four days. This is the first time that H. segmentaria is used to estimate the postmortem interval in a forensic case.