Cadaverous entomofauna associated with the incinerated remains of Sus scrofa domestica L., in the town of Chuyugual, La Libertad, Peru

Abstract

The determination of the postmortem interval through entomological evidence is a widely used method for clarifying crimes in forensic entomology. The objective of this research was to determine the cadaveric entomofauna and the ecological biodiversity associated with the remains of Sus scrofa domestica L. The work was carried out in the town of Chuyugual, La Libertad, a specimen of "pig" of 15 kg, was incinerated with diesel oil and protected with a metal cage. The insects were collected using conventional entomological techniques, species were determined with specialized taxonomic keys; for the determination of the ecological value of the cadaverous entomofauna and the most representative families were used the indices of Margalef, Simpson, Shanon and Pielou. The entomofauna found was distributed in 2 orders, 7 families, 12 species and 4 morphotypes. The 35% of relative abundance corresponds to the Calliphoridae family, 23% to the Sarcophagidae, 18% to the Staphilinidae and 6% to the Musidae, Fannidae, Dermestidae and Silphidae families. Biodiversity is high in dominance indices and the Pielou index; however, it is low in Shanon's specific wealth and equity indices. The Calliphoridae family has high diversity indexes; while the Sarcophagidae and Staphilinidae show moderate and low rates, respectively. It was concluded that the entomofauna found in the decomposition of Sus scrofa domestica belong to the order Diptera (Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, Muscidae and Fannidae) and Coleoptera (Staphilinidae, Silphidae and Dermestidae).