Insect species colonized indoor and outdoor human corpses in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The species and patterns of forensically significant insects associated with casework were documented in this study in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ten cadavers naturally died were examined. Insects attracted to human corpses have been carefully collected and classified using appropriate taxonomic keys. Two cases were outdoor compared to eight cases were indoor. Age ranged from 30 to 61 years. Corpses were found at various decompositional stages. A total of 258 insect individuals were collected from the ten bodies. Larvae was the most cast collected with 253 individuals. Moreover, the outdoor corpses were colonized by different insect life stages (22 individuals) included one beetle species and three fly species. Also, the indoor corpses colonized by different insect life stages (236 individuals) included two beetle species and six fly species. Overall, 9 different species of insects were identified. Within Diptera, seven species were present in nine of the cases. Besides, four of the cadavers had beetles. Chrysomya albiceps Wiedemann was the only insect recorded in 7 cases (39.2%), followed by Musca domestica L. (19.4%) and Dermestes maculatus DeGeer (15.5%). Estimated minPMI was ranged from 1 to 15 days. The presence and diversity of assorted insects in cadavers may lead to the advancement of the understanding of forensic entomology and of refined estimations of the minPMI.