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- Title
Coleopterofauna found on fresh and frozen rabbit carcasses in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
- Authors
Mise, K. M.; Correa, R. C.; Almeida, L. M.
- Abstract
Many arthropod species are associated with carrion and some of them can be used as forensic indicators in murder in-vestigations to estimate the time of death. Different physical conditions of cadavers may influence the fauna and the importance of freezing and thawing is unknown. The present paper sought to survey the Coleoptera species encoun-tered in frozen and fresh rabbit carcasses, at a forest in Curitiba, Brazil. Four rabbit carcasses, two of them fresh and the other frozen were used. The coleopterofauna was sampled daily, and analyzed using non-parametric tests. A total of 666 beetles were sampled, belonging to 28 species in 10 families. Most of the beetles captured were larvae of Oxelytrum spp. (433) which are known to be necrophagous. The two frozen carcasses accounted for most of the beetles (338 and 180) in comparison with the two fresh carcasses ( 103 and 45). The tests were based on the most abundant spe-cies. Oxelytrum spp. median differed significantly between carcasses (H = 12.47844; p = 0.0059). The two fresh car-casses differed significantly (U = 190.0; p = 0.00019), but there was no significant difference between the frozen carcasses (U = 336.0; p = 0.29755). The data indicate that the freezing process prevents certain species to colonize car-casses, in this case with the dominance of species of Oxelytrum. These data also indicate that careful attention is neces-sary before using frozen carcasses in forensic entomology studies.
- Subjects
CURITIBA (Brazil); PARANA (Brazil : State); BEETLES; ANIMAL carcasses; RABBITS; ARTHROPODA; THAWING
- Publication
Brazilian Journal of Biology, 2013, Vol 73, Issue 3, p543
- ISSN
1519-6984
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1590/S1519-69842013000300012