Insects have an important role in minimum postmortem interval(PMImin)estimation.An accurate PMImin estimation relies on a comprehensive study of the development and succes-sion of local carrion insects.No published re...Insects have an important role in minimum postmortem interval(PMImin)estimation.An accurate PMImin estimation relies on a comprehensive study of the development and succes-sion of local carrion insects.No published research on carrion insect succession exists for tropical north Queensland.To address this,we aimed to obtain preliminary observational data concerning the rate of decomposition and insect succession on pig carcasses in Townsville and compare these with other regions of Australia and overseas.Adult insects were collected daily from three pig carcasses for 30d during summer and identified to fa-mily level.Observations of decomposition rate were made each day and progression through the stages of decomposition were recorded.Adult insects were identified to family and their presence/absence used as a proxy for arrival at/departure from the remains,respectively.These preliminary data highlight several interesting trends that may be inform-ative for forensic PMImin estimation.Decomposition was rapid:all carcasses were at the dry/remains stage by Day 5,which was substantially quicker than all other regions in the com-parison.Differences were also observed in the presence/absence of insect families and their arrival and departure times.Given the rapid progression through early decomposition,we argue that later-arriving coleopteran taxa may be more forensically informative in tropical Australia,in contrast with temperate regions where Diptera appear most useful.This research contributes preliminary observational data to understanding insect succession pat-terns in tropical Australia and demonstrates the critical need for comprehensive local succes-sion data for each climatic region of Australia to enable accurate PMImin estimation.These data will inform future research targeted at gaining a more comprehensive understanding of insect succession in the Australian tropics.展开更多
文摘Insects have an important role in minimum postmortem interval(PMImin)estimation.An accurate PMImin estimation relies on a comprehensive study of the development and succes-sion of local carrion insects.No published research on carrion insect succession exists for tropical north Queensland.To address this,we aimed to obtain preliminary observational data concerning the rate of decomposition and insect succession on pig carcasses in Townsville and compare these with other regions of Australia and overseas.Adult insects were collected daily from three pig carcasses for 30d during summer and identified to fa-mily level.Observations of decomposition rate were made each day and progression through the stages of decomposition were recorded.Adult insects were identified to family and their presence/absence used as a proxy for arrival at/departure from the remains,respectively.These preliminary data highlight several interesting trends that may be inform-ative for forensic PMImin estimation.Decomposition was rapid:all carcasses were at the dry/remains stage by Day 5,which was substantially quicker than all other regions in the com-parison.Differences were also observed in the presence/absence of insect families and their arrival and departure times.Given the rapid progression through early decomposition,we argue that later-arriving coleopteran taxa may be more forensically informative in tropical Australia,in contrast with temperate regions where Diptera appear most useful.This research contributes preliminary observational data to understanding insect succession pat-terns in tropical Australia and demonstrates the critical need for comprehensive local succes-sion data for each climatic region of Australia to enable accurate PMImin estimation.These data will inform future research targeted at gaining a more comprehensive understanding of insect succession in the Australian tropics.
