Skin artefacts due to post-mortem damage caused by Notiothauma reedi: A insect of forensic importance in forest communities of Chile

Abstract

We selected four types of forestal areas with different botanical compositions and an anthropised prairie in a region of Chile to identify insects that participate in the decomposition of pig carcasses and that can be used as bioindicators in Chilean forensic entomology and to identify the post-mortem artefacts caused by them. We observed the presence of Notiothauma reedi (Mecoptera: Eomeropidae), an endemic insect of Chile, on carcasses only in the forested environment that characterised the deciduous forests, evergreen forest, Eucalyptus nitens plantation and Pinus radiata plantation from the third day of the post-mortem interval (PMI) and throughout the decomposition process. This species was not found on carcasses located in a prairie near Temuco city. Additionally, N. reedi caused skin lesions that had morphological similarities with ante-mortem injuries caused by cigarette burns, which change as the carcass decomposes. This study provides preliminary results on the role of this species in the decomposition of carcasses in native forests and exotic plantations in southern Chile and on the skin lesions that it causes, which should be taken into account when cadavers are found under conditions similar to those described above. In light of these findings, N. reedi could be a new bioindicator of forensic utility in the forest communities of southern Chile.