title: Comparative fly species composition on indoor and outdoor forensic cases in Malaysia.
abstract: Forensic entomology refers to the science of collection and analysis of insect evidence in order to determine the minimum time period since death. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of forensically important flies on 34 human remains referred to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre over a period of three years. Entomological specimens were collected at the death scenes and/or during autopsies. Live specimens were reared into adults while preserved specimens were processed for species identification. Five families, seven genera and nine species of flies were identified from human remains. The results of the study showed Chrysomya megacephala (Calliphoridae) maggots occurred on corpses with the highest frequency (70.6%), followed by Ch. rufifacies (Calliphoridae) (44.1%), sarcophagid fly (Sarcophagidae) (38.2%), Synthesiomya nudiseta (Muscidae) (20.6%), Megaselia scalaris (Phoridae) (14.7%), Lucilia cuprina (Calliphoridae) (5.9%), Ch. nigripes (Calliphoridae) (5.9%), Eristalis spp. (Syrphidae) (5.9%) and Hydrotaea spinigera (Muscidae) (2.9%). The greatest fly diversity occurred on remains recovered indoors (eight species) compared to outdoors (three species). Whilst, single and double infestations were common for both indoor and outdoor cases, multiple infestation of up to six species was observed in one of the indoor cases. Although large numbers of fly species were found on human remains, the predominant species were still those of Chrysomya, while S. nudiseta was found only on human remains recovered from indoors. The present study provides additional knowledge in the context of Malaysian forensic entomology and the distribution of forensically important flies which is of relevance to forensic science.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology & Medical Entomology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Biomedical Science Programme, School of Diagnostic & Applied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: syamsarizal.abdullah@ppukm.ukm.edu.my.
authors.forename: Rizal Abdullah
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Syamsa
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Science Programme, School of Diagnostic & Applied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Baharudin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Omar
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology & Medical Entomology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Firdaus Mohd Salleh
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Science Programme, School of Diagnostic & Applied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Othman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hidayatulfathi
authors.affiliation: Forensic Unit, Department of Pathology, UKM Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Abd Wahid
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Shahrom
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004175:Diptera; D004772:Entomology; D004777:Environment; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D044707:Forensic Sciences; D006801:Humans; D007814:Larva; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D011180:Postmortem Changes
keywords: Chrysomya; Death; Flies; Forensic entomology; Malaysia