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A preliminary study of carrion insects in Greece and their attraction to three animal baits: a forensic entomology perspective

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Abstract

The current study provides data on the composition of the dipteran and coleopteran fauna attracted to three different animal baits (chicken stomach, beef liver, fish) in the urban ecosystem of Athens, Greece. An additional objective was to examine the effect of bait choice by the collected taxa. Three trap locations were established within the Agricultural University of Athens. At each location two different types of baited traps were used to capture and record the local dipteran and coleopteran biodiversity. During the sampling period, a total of 2416 dipteran and coleopteran specimens representing 43 species were collected and identified. The three most abundant dipteran taxa were Sarcophaga sp. (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The results showed that the structure of the local insect community associated with the decomposition of animal baits depends on the bait used for sampling. This study reinforced the feasibility of using animal tissues as attractants to a wide diversity of medical, parasitological and forensically important taxa. Overall, beef liver attracted the most insects with Diptera preferring beef liver and Coleoptera preferring chicken stomach. Furthermore, this study revealed that baits of one animal tissue did not attract all species but in combination a much better understanding of this biodiversity was achieved. Finally, from a forensic entomology perspective this study highlights the lack of understanding of the value of entomological data related to case work in Greece.

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Data availability

The specimens listed in this study are currently deposited in the Zoological Collection of the Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, AUA, Greece and in the KMNH and are available from the curators upon request. The data that supports the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank the AUA for use of laboratory facilities. We wish to extend our gratitude to Sotiris Alexiou (Korinthian Museum of Natural History (KMNH)) for contributing to the identification of the dipteran species encountered during this study. We are also grateful to Savvas Zafeiriou (University of the Aegean) for providing the photographic illustrations of the fly species and for examining and confirming the identities of the coleopteran specimens. We would like to express our thanks to Christos Lymperopoulos (Hellenic Open University) for helpful discussions on statistical analyses. We would like to acknowledge Helenos–Konstantinos Grivakis (AUA) for providing the aerial photos of the three trap localities. Finally, we are grateful to Dr. Antonios Tsagkarakis (AUA) for his support throughout this study.

Funding

Financial support for this research was provided by student funding from the Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Gabriella Dimitra Rakopoulou

  2. Source Certain, Research and Development, Wangara DC, Western Australia, 6947, Australia

    Ian Robert Dadour

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Contributions

Gabriella Dimitra Rakopoulou conceived the ideas for this project, designed the study and wrote the experimental protocol, constructed the traps, carried out the field work, collected, counted and identified insect material, collated the results, analyzed the data, conducted statistical analyses and took the lead in drafting the first version of this manuscript. Ian Robert Dadour determined appropriate statistical methods, participated in the data analysis, aided in the interpretation of the results, contributed to the literature, participated in writing parts of the manuscript, revised and edited the manuscript and provided expertise that greatly assisted this research. All authors have read and given final approval for the publication of the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ian Robert Dadour.

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Rakopoulou, G.D., Dadour, I.R. A preliminary study of carrion insects in Greece and their attraction to three animal baits: a forensic entomology perspective. Forensic Sci Med Pathol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-024-00796-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-024-00796-6

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