Scuttle Flies (Diptera: Phoridae) Inhabiting Rabbit Carcasses Confined to Plastic Waste Bins in Malaysia Include New Records and an Undescribed Species.

Raja M Raja M Zuha,R Henry L R Henry L Disney,Baharudin Baharudin Omar,Huong-Wen See Huong-Wen

doi:10.21315/tlsr2017.28.1.9

Raja M Raja M Zuha, R Henry L R Henry L Disney + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.21315/tlsr2017.28.1.9

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Abstract

Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) are small-sized insects of forensic importance. They are well known for diversified species and habitats, but in the context of forensic entomology, scuttle flies' inhabitance of corpses remains inadequately explored. With recent reports indicating the existence of more scuttle fly species possibly inhabiting these environments, a decomposition study using animal carcasses in enclosed environments was conducted. The aim was to record the occurrence of scuttle flies on rabbit carcasses placed in sealed plastic waste bins for a 40-day period. The study was conducted as two replicates in Bangi, Selangor. Sampling was carried out at different time intervals inside a modified mosquito net as a trap. Inside the trap, adult scuttle flies were aspirated and preserved in 70% ethanol. The fly larvae and pupae were reared until their adult stage to facilitate identification. From this study, six scuttle fly species were collected, i.e., Dahliphora sigmoides (Schmitz) ♂, Gymnoptera simplex (Brues) ♀, Megaselia scalaris (Loew) ♂♀, Puliciphora borinquenensis (Wheeler) ♂, Puliciphora obtecta Meijere ♀ and Spiniphora sp. ♀. Both D. sigmoides and P. obtecta were newly recorded in Malaysia, whilst the Spiniphora sp. was considered an unknown species until it was linked to its male counterpart. The sealed waste bins were found to be accessible for the scuttle flies with delayed arrival (day 4-5). Megaselia scalaris was the primary scuttle fly species attracted to the carcass, and its occurrence could be observed between days 4-7 (replicate 1) and days 5-33 (replicate 2). This study also revealed Sarcophaga spp. (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) as the earliest species to colonize the remains and the longest to inhabit them (days 2-40). The larvae of Hermetia illucens (Linneaus) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) and Fannia sp. (Diptera: Fanniidae) were found on the carcasses during the mid-advanced decay period. These findings expand the knowledge on the diversity of forensically important scuttle flies and coexisting dipterans in enclosed environments in Malaysia.

Highlights

Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) are considered to be one of the most diversified groups of insects with a wide range of ecological backgrounds and morphological features (Disney 1994)
Six scuttle fly species were collected, i.e., Dahliphora sigmoides (Schmitz) ♂, Gymnoptera simplex (Brues) ♀, Megaselia scalaris (Loew) ♂♀, Puliciphora borinquenensis (Wheeler) ♂, Puliciphora obtecta Meijere ♀ and Spiniphora sp. ♀. Both D. sigmoides and P. obtecta were newly recorded in Malaysia, whilst the Spiniphora sp. was considered an unknown species until it was linked to its male counterpart
Six scuttle fly species were recorded in both replicates of this study, i.e., D. sigmoides ♂, G. simplex ♀, M. scalaris ♂♀, P. borinquenensis ♂, P. obtecta ♀ and Spiniphora sp. ♀ (Figure 3)

Summary

Introduction

Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) are considered to be one of the most diversified groups of insects with a wide range of ecological backgrounds and morphological features (Disney 1994). In forensic entomology, they constitute an important group of Diptera and are commonly found indoors and in enclosed environments. With their small size, they can penetrate narrow gaps and reach corpses faster than other common groups of forensically important flies such as Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae (Bugelli et al 2015; Zuha et al 2015). Numerous scuttle fly larvae and their adults feed on various types of decaying animal tissues (Beaver 1987; Disney 1994; Walker 1957; Zaidi & Chen 2011)

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