ABSTRACT

There is a long history of using insects on a decomposing corpse as an invaluable tool to estimate the minimum post-mortem interval (PMI) during death investigations. The present study was carried out to study the decomposition pattern and insects associated with a submerged rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus Linnaeus, 1758) carcase. A total of 1795 insect specimens were found to be associated with different decomposition stages. During the submerged fresh stage three species from the genus Chironomus visited the carcase. During the early floating and floating decay stages, insects belonging to Coenagrionidae, Chironomidae, Lestidae, Aeshnidae families along with the aquatic beetles i.e. Enochrus esuriens (Walker, 1858), Regimbartia attenuata (Fabricius, 1801), genus Helochares and Canthydrus laetabilis (Walker, 1858) visited and colonised the carcase. The advanced floating decay and sunken remains stage saw a prominence of Ranatra digitata (Hafiz and Pradhan, 1949), Ranatra filiformis (Fabricius, 1790) and genera Hydroglyphus, Hypoporus, Laccophilus, Berosus and Helochares. The Post-Mortem Submersion Interval (PMSI) was found to be longest in the winters (44 days, ADD = 1066.5) and shortest in the rainy season (16 days, ADD = 405.5) while the spring and the summer season showed a moderate PMSI of 26 days (ADD = 632.5) and 19 days (ADD = 472.5) respectively.

摘要

在腐烂的尸体上使用昆虫作为估计死亡调查期间最小死后间隔 (PMI) 的宝贵工具已有很长的历史。本研究旨在研究与水下兔子 ( Oryctolagus cuniculus Linnaeus, 1758) 尸体相关的分解模式和昆虫。共发现 1795 个昆虫标本与不同的分解阶段有关。在浸水新鲜阶段，摇蚊属的三个物种访问了尸体。在早期漂浮和漂浮腐烂阶段，属于 Coenagrionidae、Chironomidae、Lestidae、Aeshnidae 科的昆虫以及水生甲虫即Enochrus esuriens (Walker，1858)、Regimbartia attenuata(Fabricius, 1801)、Helochares属和Canthydrus laetabilis (Walker, 1858) 访问并定植了尸体。先进的漂浮腐烂和沉没的残骸阶段看到了Ranatra digitata (Hafiz and Pradhan, 1949)、Ranatra filiformis (Fabricius, 1790) 和Hydroglyphu s、Hypoporus、Laccophilus、Berosus和Helochares 属。发现死后淹没间隔 (PMSI) 在冬季最长（44 天，ADD = 1066.5），在雨季最短（16 天，ADD = 405.5），而春季和夏季则表现出温和的 PMSI分别为 26 天 (ADD = 632.5) 和 19 天 (ADD = 472.5)。