Diversity of Forensically-Important Dipteran Species in Different Environments in Northeastern Brazil, with Notes on the Attractiveness of Animal Baits

Abstract

The distribution and habitat preferences of necrophagous Diptera in northeastern Brazil is poorly known despite the medical and forensic relevance of species in the Families Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, and Muscidae. We performed a survey on the diversity of necrophagous species in 4 types of environments: rainforest, agroecosystem, beach, and urban areas. Adult flies were collected by using suspended traps containing decomposing animal tissue (chicken liver, sardine, or pork) as baits. A diverse assemblage of necrophagous Diptera was registered in all environments, consisting of 20 species from 7 families: Calliphoridae, Fanniidae, Muscidae, Phoridae, Piophilidae, Sarcophagidae, and Ulidiidae. Megaselia scalaris (Loew) (Phoridae), Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) (Calliphoridae), and Tricharaea sp. (Muscidae) were the most abundant species. The rainforest fragment and the sugarcane plantation were the environments with the highest degree of species similarity. The type of bait did not significantly influence the number of species captured. The invasive species Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) and C. albiceps were present in high abundance in all environments, especially at the sandy beach, where they corresponded to 100% of all Calliphoridae specimens.