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A review of postfeeding larval dispersal in blowflies: implications for forensic entomology

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Abstract

Immature and adult stages of blowflies are one of the primary invertebrate consumers of decomposing animal organic matter. When the food supply is consumed or when the larvae complete their development and migrate prior to the total removal of the larval substrate, they disperse to find adequate places for pupation, a process known as postfeeding larval dispersal. Several important ecological and physiological aspects of this process were studied since the work by Green (Ann Appl Biol 38:475, 1951) 50 years ago. An understanding of postfeeding larval dispersal can be useful for determining the postmortem interval (PMI) of human cadavers in legal medicine, particularly because this interval may be underestimated if older dispersing larvae or those that disperse longer, faster, and deeper are not taken into account. In this article, we review the process of postfeeding larval dispersal and its implications for legal medicine, in particular showing that aspects such as burial behavior and competition among species of blowflies can influence this process and consequently, the estimation of PMI.

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Acknowledgements

Leonardo Gomes is supported by a fellowship from FAPESP (03/00540-3) and Cláudio José Von Zuben by a research fellowship from CNPq. The authors thank Iracema Monteiro da Silva and Guilherme Gomes for their help in collecting data, the referees for their comments that helped improve the manuscript, and Dr. Stephen Hyslop for the English corrections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Av. 24A, 1515, Bairro Bela Vista, 13506-900, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil

    Leonardo Gomes & Claudio José Von Zuben

  2. Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Rubião Júnior, Botucatu, SP, 18618-000, Brazil

    Wesley Augusto Conde Godoy

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  1. Leonardo Gomes
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Correspondence to Leonardo Gomes.

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Gomes, L., Godoy, W.A.C. & Von Zuben, C.J. A review of postfeeding larval dispersal in blowflies: implications for forensic entomology. Naturwissenschaften 93, 207–215 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0082-5

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