Carrion Insects on Pig Carcasses at a Rural and an Urban Site in Nova Scotia

Abstract

ABSTRACTBlow flies of the family Calliphoridae are significant insect colonizers of dead animal bodies and have proven useful in forensic investigations. The species composition and succession of insects on carcasses are affected by physical factors such as temperature, or exposure and also by the population biology of the flies. For accurate use of fly data in forensic cases it is important to establish a database of information on carrion insects for each different biogeographical area. This paper provides some baseline data for rural and urban areas of Nova Scotia over the summer period using pig carcasses under exposed, shaded and buried conditions. There was a great deal of overlap in species composition when the urban and rural sites were compared. Phormia regina was the most frequently encountered blow fly and it was present in exposed and shaded conditions at both sites. Lucilia illustris was also common at urban and rural sites while Phaenicia sericata was collected only at the urban site. Protophormia terraenovae was collected more often at the urban site. Only one species of blow fly, Cynomyopsis cadaverina, was recovered from buried pig carcasses. This result differs from most similar studies done. Some data are also included on the burying beetles and other insects associated with the carcasses.