The Influence of Wounds, Severe Trauma, and Clothing, on Carcass Decomposition and Arthropod Succession in South Africa

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of different types of physical wounds as well as clothing on carcass decomposition and arthropod succession during all seasons over one year in South Africa. The trials for each season included six pigs, Sus scrofa, carcasses: two carcasses with wounds, one carcass was clothed the other was not; two carcasses with stab wounds, one carcass was clothed and the other was not; two carcasses with severe trauma wounds, one carcass was clothed and the other was not. The decomposition process and arthropod succession were not influenced by the absence or presence of wounds. Adult female Diptera did not select the wounds as oviposition sites. The presence of clothing caused a slight change in decomposition process only during summer and winter trials. The dominant Diptera in autumn and summer were Chrysomya marginalis and Chrysomya albiceps. In spring, it was Chrysomya chloropyga and C. albiceps and in winter it was Sarcophaga spp., C. chloropyga, Calliphora vicina, and Lucilia spp. During the warmer seasons, maggot predation by C. albiceps on C. marginalis was observed. In all seasons the Coleoptera were dominated by Dermestes maculatus and Necrobia rufipes, however, in summer, Thanatophilus micans and Histeridae spp. were also recorded.