Life History of Two Fly Parasitoids, Aleochara nigra and A. formosanorum (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), and Its Implications in Forensic Entomology
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Lin, Shou-Wang
Abstract
The estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) is one of the most important issues in forensic entomology, and estimating the developmental time of the immature stages of necrophagous flies, especially blow flies, has been the main tool to estimate PMI. Many parasitic insects may alter the development of immature stages of flies, and thus affecting the PMI estimation. For most species of the rove beetle genus Aleochara which have been studied, their larvae are ectoparasitoids of the pupae of cyclorrhapha flies. Among them, some species that parasitize necrophagous flies may have forensic importance. I studied two Aleochara species in Taiwan that visit carrion site, A. nigra and A. formosanorum. The results of field survey conducted in northern Taiwan show that they are commonly found in northern Taiwan. All the five necrophagous (Hemipyrellia ligurriens, Lucilia cuprina, Chrysomya megacephala, C. rufifacies, sarcophagid sp.) and one non-necrophagous fly species (Bactrocera dorsalis) I examined have the potential to be parasitized by some individuals of these two Aleochara species, but differences among the acceptance and suitability of the rove beetle larvae to these host species suggest that rove beetles may prefer specific hosts. Each stage of their life history under 3 different temperatures has been recorded for estimating the developmental time under different temperatures. The larval stage together with the pupal stage of both species are longer than the pupal stages of their hosts, implying their potential usage of elongating the PMI estimation in forensic investigation. In addition, the host weight and the duration of the larval stage of A. formosanorum are positively correlated, thus it should be considered while applying the parasitized fly pupae in PMI estimation.
Subjects
ectoparasitoid
postmortem interval estimation
Staphylinidae
Calliphoridae
forensic entomology
Type
thesis
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