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. 2019 Nov;26(7):1499-1502.
doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2019.04.011. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Forensic insects attracted to human cadavers in a vehicular environment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abdulmani H Al-Qahtni  1 , Ashraf M Mashaly  2 , Reem A Alajmi  1 , Adel A Alshehri  3 , Zeinab M Al-Musawi  1 , Mohammed S Al-Khalifa  1
Affiliations

Forensic insects attracted to human cadavers in a vehicular environment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abdulmani H Al-Qahtni et al. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2019 Nov.

Abstract

Insect fauna attracted to cadavers at the crime scene can be identified and used to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI). In the current study, insects associated with two human cadavers in a vehicular environment were collected and analysed. The first cadaver was found five days' post mortem in a garage. The second cadaver was found in a car ten days after his death. The weather conditions were obtained from the nearest weather station located to the scenes of the death. During the study, six adults, 32 larvae and egg batches were collected from case 1 and identified as Chrysomya albiceps Wiedemann (Diptera: Calliphoridae). From the second case, two larvae of Megaselia scalaris Loew (Diptera: Foridae) and seven larvae of Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) were identified. mPMI ranged from five to twelve days. This information expands the knowledge on the insect fauna in the vehicular environment, which could be used to assist estimation of the PMI.

Keywords: Cars; Decomposition; Human cadavers; Insects; Post mortem intervals.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
In case 1: temperatures recorded by the nearest weather station for the seven days before the body discovery (Tmax: 25 °C; Tmin: 11 °C).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
In case 2: temperatures recorded by the nearest weather station for the seven days before the body discovery (Tmax: 33 °C; Tmin: 21 °C).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Indicates the two cases: A: Case 1; B: Case 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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