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Bestimmung des Alters forensisch relevanter Fliegenpuppen

Morphologische und histologische Methoden

Age estimation of forensically important blowfly pupae

Morphological and histological methods

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Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund

Die Altersbestimmung von juvenilen Schmeißfliegen ist ein wichtiges Werkzeug zur Eingrenzung der minimalen Leichenliegezeit. Der vorliegende Beitrag präsentiert morphologische und histologische Landmarken der über 50% der juvenilen Entwicklung beanspruchenden Puppen für die beiden in Deutschland wichtigsten Arten Calliphora vicina und Lucilia sericata.

Methoden

Die Aufzucht erfolgte bei 25°C. Die Puppen wurden 24-stündlich entnommen und gewogen oder abgetötet; das Puparium der abgetöteten Individuen wurde entfernt und die Puppe fotografiert. Puppen wurden in Formalin fixiert und histologische Präparate (7 µm, HE-Färbung) zur Analyse der Zellkernvolumina und Adipozyten sowie der allgemeinen histologischen Merkmale angefertigt.

Ergebnisse

Zehn morphologische Landmarken wurden definiert und ein signifikanter Gewichtsverlust im Verlauf der Metamorphose beobachtet. Die Zellkerne zeigten eine Volumenreduktion von bis zu 25,3% während des ersten Tages der Histolyse; die Zahl der Fettzellen reduzierte sich um bis zu 52,4%.

Schlussfolgerungen

Morphologische Merkmale von Puppen der Arten C. vicina und L. sericata erlauben es, die Wachstumsrate bei einer Umgebungstemperatur von 25°C auf den Tag genau einzugrenzen. Histologische Parameter können die Ergebnisse bestätigen oder sogar verbessern.

Abstract

Background

Approximately 50% of the immature development of blowflies takes place in the pupal stage which makes age estimation difficult. This article presents morphological and histological milestones for the pupal development of Calliphora vicina and Lucilia sericata .

Methods

Rearing was carried out at 25°C. Pupae were sampled every 24 h and either weighed or killed. Puparia were removed and pictures were taken. Additionally for analyzing nuclei volumes, adipocytes and histology, pupae were fixed in formalin, sliced and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (7 µm, H&E).

Results

Character sheets for external pupal morphology were developed, defining and describing 10 morphological milestones for pupal development. Significant loss of weight was observed during metamorphosis for both species. Larval nuclei showed a reduction of up to 25.3 % of the volume during the first days of histolysis and the number of adipocytes was reduced by up to 52.4 %.

Conclusions

The character sheets show that a combination of morphological characters can be used to estimate age (± 12 h) for the pupae of the blowflies C. vicina and L. sericata. Histological changes can confirm or even improve these results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forensische Biologie/Entomologie, Institut für forensische Medizin, Goethe-Universität, Kennedyallee 104, 60596, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland

    B.K. Zajac Dipl.-Biol. & J. Amendt

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  1. B.K. Zajac Dipl.-Biol.
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  2. J. Amendt
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Correspondence to B.K. Zajac Dipl.-Biol..

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Zajac, B., Amendt, J. Bestimmung des Alters forensisch relevanter Fliegenpuppen. Rechtsmedizin 22, 456–465 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00194-012-0854-5

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