[Towards understanding the fauna of buried corpses].

Abstract

The goal: Is to describe the occurrence of the Rhizophagus parallelocollis graveyard beetle in inhumated bodies in forensic practice and to evaluate the potential for establishing an accurate date of burial based on entomological analysis of the presence of Rh. parallelocollis in the remains. Numerous accumulations of graveyard beetle fragments were found in cadavers buried at a depth of 2.0-2.5 meters in the vicinity of Smolensk in 2013. The collected materials consisted mainly of individual body parts (pronotum, head, abdomen, and elytral). The highly developed sense of smell of these beetles allows them to detect corpses and migrate to depths of several meters by freely penetrating wooden coffins and metal boxes. The highest concentration of beetles were observed in hollow structures (skulls, leather shoes). The occurrence of Rh. parallelocollis on inhumation bodies is directly correlated with the duration of time the beetles have spent at the site. The discovery of large numbers of beetle remains (more than 5.000) indicates the age of the buried material and the estimated period of burial - 1941-1945.