title: Scuttle Flies (Diptera: Phoridae) Inhabiting Rabbit Carcasses Confined to Plastic Waste Bins in Malaysia Include New Records and an Undescribed Species.
abstract: Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) are small-sized insects of forensic importance. They are well known for diversified species and habitats, but in the context of forensic entomology, scuttle flies' inhabitance of corpses remains inadequately explored. With recent reports indicating the existence of more scuttle fly species possibly inhabiting these environments, a decomposition study using animal carcasses in enclosed environments was conducted. The aim was to record the occurrence of scuttle flies on rabbit carcasses placed in sealed plastic waste bins for a 40-day period. The study was conducted as two replicates in Bangi, Selangor. Sampling was carried out at different time intervals inside a modified mosquito net as a trap. Inside the trap, adult scuttle flies were aspirated and preserved in 70% ethanol. The fly larvae and pupae were reared until their adult stage to facilitate identification. From this study, six scuttle fly species were collected, i.e.,Dahliphora sigmoides(Schmitz) ♂,Gymnoptera simplex(Brues)♀,Megaselia scalaris(Loew)♂♀,Puliciphora borinquenensis(Wheeler) ♂,Puliciphora obtectaMeijere♀andSpiniphorasp. ♀.BothD. sigmoidesandP. obtectawere newly recorded in Malaysia, whilst theSpiniphorasp. was considered an unknown species until it was linked to its male counterpart. The sealed waste bins were found to be accessible for the scuttle flies with delayed arrival (day 4-5).Megaselia scalariswas the primary scuttle fly species attracted to the carcass, and its occurrence could be observed between days 4-7 (replicate 1) and days 5-33 (replicate 2). This study also revealedSarcophagaspp. (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) as the earliest species to colonize the remains and the longest to inhabit them (days 2-40). The larvae ofHermetia illucens(Linneaus) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) andFanniasp.(Diptera: Fanniidae) were found on the carcasses during the mid-advanced decay period. These findings expand the knowledge on the diversity of forensically important scuttle flies and coexisting dipterans in enclosed environments in Malaysia.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Science Program, School of Diagnostic and Applied Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Raja M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Zuha
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Science Program, School of Diagnostic and Applied Health Sciences Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: See
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huong-Wen
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: R Henry L
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Disney
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Science Program, School of Diagnostic and Applied Health Sciences Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Baharudin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Omar
keywords: Decomposition; Diversity; Forensic Entomology; Phoridae; Scuttle Flies