Temporal distribution of ten calyptrate dipteran species of medicolegal importance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Brazilian studies involving entomological succession patterns in carcasses have been used to describe the necrophagous entomofauna of a determined municipality or region with forensic objectives. Following the same objectives, an ecological study with 10 calyptrate dipterans was carried out during the winter of 2007 and the summer of 2008 in the metropolitan region of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. The aim of this study was to describe several aspects of the phenology of these species in three neighbouring areas. Carcasses of three domestic pigs (Sus scrofa L.) were used in each season as models for forensic and legal medicine investigations in the region. Temperature, relative humidity and rainfall were measured daily and their relations with population abundance of the colonising species and the decomposition stages were analysed. Ten fly species were recorded to be colonising the carcasses, five of which belonged to the Calliphoridae family, three to the Muscidae, one to the Fanniidae and one to the Sarcophagidae family. Data show preferences of these species for climatic season and decomposition stage, as well as for the studied area and suggest that short distances can significantly influence the abundance of some species.

New records of calyptrate dipterans (Fanniidae, Muscidae and Sarcophagidae) associated with the decomposition of domestic pigs in Brazil

The calyptrate dipterans are the most important decomposers of human cadavers. Knowledge of their species and distribution are of great importance to forensic entomology, especially because of the enormous diversity in Brazil. Carcasses of domestic pigs (Sus scrofa, L) were the experimental models used to attract calyptrates of forensic interest during the winters of 2006 and 2007 and the summers of 2006 and 2008. A total of 24,423 specimens from 44 species were collected (19 Muscidae, 2 Fanniidae and 23 Sarcophagidae), three of which were new records of occurrence and 20 of which were new forensic records for the state of Rio de Janeiro. Fourteen of these species were newly identified as forensically important in Brazil.