View source for 2018-09-25 Entomofauna on buried carrions in Calabria, Southern Italy (Speech)

=<font color=orange>Entomofauna on buried carrions in Calabria, Southern Italy</font>=

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Speech at the Meeting of the  Italian Union of Zoology (UZI), September 25, 2018, Lecce, Italy

==<font color=orange>Teresa Bonacci, '''Mark Benecke''', Federica Mendicino, Francesco Carlomagno, Marco Pezzi, Daniel Whitmore, Vannio Vercillo</font>==

[More [http://wiki2.benecke.com/index.php?title=All_Mark_Benecke_Publications publications by MB]] [More [http://wiki2.benecke.com/index.php?title=All_Mark_Benecke_Publications#Forensic_Entomology about forensic entomology by MB]] [[http://wiki2.benecke.com/index.php?title=Media#Interviews_.26_Articles Interviews & articles with and by MB]]

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[[File:Entomofauna 2018.png|thumb|550px|left]] '''ABSTRACT''' Murderers often to try to conceal evidence of their violent crimes. Several cases involving buried corpses have been reported in Italy but studies of insects associated to buried remains are still limited. <br>

A simulation of a case involving a buried human corpse was carried out using pig carcasses. Six pigs weighing 110 kg each were used: five carcasses were buried at a depth of 60 cm and one was left  on the surface as control (“S”). In order to evaluate short- and long-term effects of burial on decay and insects succession, four of the five buried carcasses were excavated every 45 days and one of these was used as second control (“B”). Carcass B was then excavated every 10 days over the sampling period until its complete decay. Daily controls on insects presence were performed on carcass S and on the burial surcafes. Air and soil temperature, humidity and rain rates were recorded throughout the sampling period. <br>

Insects observed visiting the carcass S along the decay process were ''Calliphora'' spp, ''Hydrotaea dentipes'', ''Necrodes littoralis'', ''Necrobia'' spp, ''Creophilus maxillosus'', ''Dermestes frischii''. Diptera such as ''Calliphora vomitoria'' and ''Musca domestica'' were observed over the burial carcass B one day after the first excavation. At the time of second excavation (10 days later) ''C. vicina'' maggots and adults of ''Philontus'' sp. were collected inside the ear of carcass B. At the time of eleventh excavation of carcass B, maggots of ''Lucilia sericata'', ''C. vomitoria'', ''Hydrotaea aenescens'', ''Hydrotaea capensis'', ''Hydrotaea ignava'', ''Muscina prolapsa'' and ''Fannia canicularis'' and adults of ''C. maxillosus'', ''Hyster cadaverinus'', ''Saprinus semistriatus'', ''D. frischii'', ''Tanatophilus rugosus'', ''Necrobia violacea'' and ''Necrobia ruficollis'' were collected. Since the beginning of the study, larvae of ''H. aenescens'', ''H. capensis'', ''Muscina stabulans'' and ''F. canicularis'' and adults of Staphylinidae Aleocharinae and Oxytelinae (''Platystethus'' spp), ''Margarinotus brunneus'', ''S. semistriatus'' and ''D. frischii'' were collected from day 109 to 171 on carcass B. <br>

At each excavation control, no insects on the grave and on other buried carcasses were collected. Comparing the results of buried and exposed carcasses, more species were collected on buried remains in comparison to exposed ones. This experiment provides the first data on insect colonization patterns of buried carcasses in Italy and indicates that burial depth (60 cm) and soil cohesion are relevant factors preventing the access of insects to the buried carcass. 

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==<font color=orange>Suggested readings</font>==
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* [[2017 Romanian Journal of Legal Medicine Bonacci Benecke|''Dermestes frischii'' and ''D. undulatus'' (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) on a Human Corpse in Southern Italy: First Report]]

* [[Bonacci 2017 Flies and ants: A forensic entomological neglect case of an elderly man in Calabria, Southern Italy|Flies and ants: A forensic entomological neglect case of an elderly man in Calabria, Southern Italy]]

* [[2017 06 AAFE Treviso|A Forensic Entomological case of neglect of an elderly man in Calabria, Southern Italy]]

* [[2014 08 International Congress of Dipterology|Arthropods on mummies in the Catacombe dei Cappuccini in Palermo, Italy]]

* [[Benecke Six Forensic Entomology Cases|Six forensic entomology cases: description and commentary]]

* [[2003-09 Kelly Myers: Forensic Entomology|Forensic Entomology (skilled work)]]

* [[Forensic Entomology in the Middle East|Forensic Entomology in the Middle East - Short excerpt of literature]] 

* [[2008 Entomologie heute: What is the Edge of a Forest|What is the Edge of a Forest]]

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