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Diversity, Daily Flight Activity and Temporal Occurrence of Necrophagous Diptera Associated with Decomposing Carcasses in a Semi-Arid Environment

Diversity, Daily Flight Activity and Temporal Occurrence of Necrophagous Diptera Associated with... The harsh conditions of the Brazilian seasonally dry tropical forest known as Caatinga pose challenges to the insects specialized in the exploitation of ephemeral resources. We investigated the diversity and daily flight activity of dipterans associated with decomposing rat carcasses in a field experiment performed in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco State, Brazil. We also analyzed the temporal arrival of adult insects on the carcasses at three stages of decomposition: early, intermediate, and advanced. We collected 1173 individuals, of which Muscidae had the highest abundance (36.5%), followed by Sarcophagidae (28.1%), Calliphoridae (25.2%), and Fanniidae (10.2%). Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) (Calliphoridae), Fannia pusio (Wiedemann, 1830) (Fanniidae), Atherigona orientalis (Schiner, 1868), and Musca domestica (Linnaeus, 1758) (Muscidae) were the most abundant species. The richness reached its maximum value on the second day of decomposition, with 18 species, decreasing to 8 species on the last day of decomposition (7 days). The ecological indices of diversity, dominance, and evenness varied little among the stages. There was an overlap of most species throughout the decomposition, although the overall abundance was higher at the intermediate stage for Calliphoridae, Muscidae, and Sarcophagidae. In accordance to previous studies, nocturnal flight was rare, as approximately 8% of insects were captured at night. Our results expand the knowledge on ecological and behavioral aspects of necrophagous flies under inhospitable environments, such as the dry season in the Caatinga. The dominance of the invasive species C. albiceps reinforced here illustrates its geographical expansion towards the countryside of Northeastern Brazil. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Neotropical Entomology Springer Journals

Diversity, Daily Flight Activity and Temporal Occurrence of Necrophagous Diptera Associated with Decomposing Carcasses in a Semi-Arid Environment

Neotropical Entomology , Volume 47 (4) – Jul 27, 2017

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References (36)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil
Subject
Life Sciences; Entomology; Agriculture; Life Sciences, general
ISSN
1519-566X
eISSN
1678-8052
DOI
10.1007/s13744-017-0540-0
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The harsh conditions of the Brazilian seasonally dry tropical forest known as Caatinga pose challenges to the insects specialized in the exploitation of ephemeral resources. We investigated the diversity and daily flight activity of dipterans associated with decomposing rat carcasses in a field experiment performed in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco State, Brazil. We also analyzed the temporal arrival of adult insects on the carcasses at three stages of decomposition: early, intermediate, and advanced. We collected 1173 individuals, of which Muscidae had the highest abundance (36.5%), followed by Sarcophagidae (28.1%), Calliphoridae (25.2%), and Fanniidae (10.2%). Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) (Calliphoridae), Fannia pusio (Wiedemann, 1830) (Fanniidae), Atherigona orientalis (Schiner, 1868), and Musca domestica (Linnaeus, 1758) (Muscidae) were the most abundant species. The richness reached its maximum value on the second day of decomposition, with 18 species, decreasing to 8 species on the last day of decomposition (7 days). The ecological indices of diversity, dominance, and evenness varied little among the stages. There was an overlap of most species throughout the decomposition, although the overall abundance was higher at the intermediate stage for Calliphoridae, Muscidae, and Sarcophagidae. In accordance to previous studies, nocturnal flight was rare, as approximately 8% of insects were captured at night. Our results expand the knowledge on ecological and behavioral aspects of necrophagous flies under inhospitable environments, such as the dry season in the Caatinga. The dominance of the invasive species C. albiceps reinforced here illustrates its geographical expansion towards the countryside of Northeastern Brazil.

Journal

Neotropical EntomologySpringer Journals

Published: Jul 27, 2017

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