Behavioral Studies of Scuttle Flies (Diptera: Phoridae) and Its Forensic Importance in Taipei Area
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
lin, Yen-Cheng
Abstract
Phoridae is a large family of Diptera with highly biological diversity. There are about 200 genera and more than 3,000 species were identified in the world. Phorids are worthy to study because the larvae of most species are parasitoids or specialist predators. In other species, they also feed on dung, carrions, fungus, or plants, and some of them were recorded in the forensic cases. The majority of forensic cases that involve examination of insects found on a corpse are mainly concerning for the blow flies (Calliphoridae) and flesh flies (Sarcophagidae). People collect these data for estimating the earliest oviposition dates（EODs）and know how long the dead body was exposed there. The phorid flies may be found in many cases because their small bodies are able to enter the smallest opening, even several meter deepth in the soil. In this study, we collected 6 phorid species of possible forensic importance and captured maggots by using subterranean rat corpses which were set in different depth. Below the ground, 2 phorid species, Dohrniphora cornuta (Bigot) and Diplonevra peregrine (Wiedemann), were significantly more than other species. Magaselia scalaris (Loew) and blowflies were blocked by the soil. Abilities of flies to penetrate the ground under different sizes of soil granules and different soil depth were tested. Diplonevra cornuta was proved to have better ability to penetrate the soil than the other 2 phorid fly species. The penetrating ability of tested phorid flies is worse than previously recorded in other field studies. Finally, we believe it is useful to build a model of D. cornuta for covering the unexpected situation of decaying remains and estimating the postmortem interval (PMI) of the corpse buried in a shallow grave in a week to a month.
Subjects
Phoridae
diptera
behavior
forensic
Type
thesis
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