Faunistic Analysis of the Families Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae (Diptera) at Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Flies of the family Calliphoridae play a variety of ecological roles. They carry various pathogens and cause myiasis in humans and livestock, but they are useful to forensic entomology and in larval therapy. Mesembrinellidae flies, formerly classified in the family Calliphoridae, are good bioindicators of human interference in natural environments. In this study, we carried out an inventory of the Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae at four collecting sites within the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. Eight traps were set, four in the arboretum (sites A and B), where the public is allowed to visit, and four at an Atlantic Forest fragment (sites C and D), open only to researchers. From July 2014 to June 2015, a total of 35,890 calliphorid flies were captured in 10 species and 145 Mesembrinellidea in 3. The greatest number of flies was found at site A and diversity was higher at site C. Chrysomya megacephala (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) was the most prevalent species, being present at all sites. Mesembrinella bellardiana (Aldrich) (Diptera: Mesembrinellidae), Laneella nigripes (Guimarães) (Diptera: Mesembrinellidae), and Huascaromusca purpurata (Aldrich) (Diptera: Mesembrinellidae) were present at sites C and D, which indicates a preservation of the area because they are asynanthropic species. There were significant differences between sites A and D and sites B and D.

Calliphoridae (Diptera) Associated With Rattus rattus Carcasses in the Tijuca National Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Forensic entomology is a complementary tool for penal procedures, mainly on estimating postmortem interval. Study of cadaveric fauna in various environments is primary as source of information to support this science. This study collected information about the fauna of Calliphoridae associated to carcasses of Rattus rattus in the Tijuca National Park, RJ. Four collections were conducted, one for each season of 2015, exposing six carcasses at georeferenced points in each collection. The carcasses were placed 550 m from the boarder and equidistant by 100 m. Five decomposition stages were identified, and 10,559 individuals of Calliphoridae belonging to 10 species were collected. The most abundant species were Hemilucilia semidiaphana (Rondani) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). L. eximia was the most abundant species during the Swelling and Black Putrefaction stages, succeeded in the next stages by two species of the genera Hemilucilia. H. semidiaphana was the dominant species in the last two stages, followed by Hemilucilia segmentaria (Fabricius) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The genus Mesembrinella (Diptera: Calliphoridae) occurred mainly during the Black putrefaction stage. Mesembrinella bellardiana (Aldrich) was more abundant, with higher occurrence during the Black putrefaction and Dry decay stages. Mesembrinella peregrina (Aldrich) occurred in the two last stages with low abundance. Huascaromusca aeneiventris (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) occurred during all the observed stages, mainly during the Butyric fermentation stage. Huascaromusca purpurata (Aldrich) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) occurred only during the Dry decay stage and in low abundance. A succession pattern in the carcasses colonization was observed, providing relevant information for the resolution of criminal investigations in this environment.