Insect succession on buried carrion in two biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia.
We established a database of insect succession on buried carrion in two biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia over a 16-month period beginning June 1995. Pig (Sus scrofa L.) carcasses were buried shortly after death in the Coastal Western Hemlock and Sub-boreal Spruce biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia. Buried pigs exhibited a distinct pattern of succession from that which occurred on above-ground carrion. The species composition and time of colonization for particular species differed between the two zones. Therefore ideally, a database of insect succession on buried carrion should be established for each major biogeoclimatic zone. We did not observe maggot masses on any of the buried carcasses; therefore, the presence of maggot masses may indicate a delayed burial. Soil temperature was a better indicator of internal buried carcass temperature (r2 = 0.92, p < 0.0001) than was ambient air temperature (r2 = 0.60, p < 0.0001); thus soil temperature should be used to determine developmental rates of insects for determination of the postmortem interval by a forensic entomologist.
VanLaerhoven
S L
SL
Department of Entomology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA.
Anderson
G S
GS
D000818:Animals; D018533:Biomass; D001947:Breeding; D001955:British Columbia; D002102:Cadaver; D016208:Databases, Factual; D017753:Ecosystem; D004772:Entomology; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods; D007313:Insecta; D013552:Swine; D013696:Temperature