Abstract
Despite the fact that mites were used at the dawn of forensic entomology to elucidate the postmortem interval, their use in current cases remains quite low for procedural reasons such as inadequate taxonomic knowledge. A special interest is focused on the phoretic stages of some mite species, because the phoront-host specificity allows us to deduce in many occasions the presence of the carrier (usually Diptera or Coleoptera) although it has not been seen in the sampling performed in situ or in the autopsy room. In this article, we describe two cases where Poecilochirus austroasiaticus Vitzthum (Acari: Parasitidae) was sampled in the autopsy room. In the first case, we could sample the host, Thanatophilus ruficornis (Küster) (Coleoptera: Silphidae), which was still carrying phoretic stages of the mite on the body. That attachment allowed, by observing starvation/feeding periods as a function of the digestive tract filling, the establishment of chronological cycles of phoretic behavior, showing maximum peaks of phoronts during arrival and departure from the corpse and the lowest values in the phase of host feeding. From the sarcosaprophagous fauna, we were able to determine in this case a minimum postmortem interval of 10 days. In the second case, we found no Silphidae at the place where the corpse was found or at the autopsy, but a postmortem interval of 13 days could be established by the high specificity of this interspecific relationship and the departure from the corpse of this family of Coleoptera.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amendt J, Campobasso CP, Gaudry E, Reiter C, LeBlanc HN, Hall MJR (2007) Best practice in forensic entomology—standards and guidelines. Int J Leg Med 121:90–104
Anderson GS (2000) Minimum and maximum development rates of some forensically important Calliphoridae (Diptera). J Forensic Sci 45(4):824–832
Anderson GS, VanLaerhoven SL (1996) Initial studies on insect succession on carrion in southwestern British Columbia. J Forensic Sci 41(4):617–625
Audisio PA (1993) Coleoptera, Nitidulidae – Kateretidae. Fauna d’Italia, vol 32. Edizioni Calderini, Bologna
Benecke M, Josephi E, Zweihoff R (2004) Neglect of the elderly: forensic entomology cases and considerations. Forensic Sci Int 146(Suppl):195–199
Braig HR, Perotti MA (2009) Carcasses and mites. Exp Appl Acarol 49(1–2):45–84
Brown JM, Wilson DS (1992) Local specialization of phoretic mites on sympatric carrion beetle hosts. Ecology 73:463–478
Catts EP, Haskell NH (1990) Entomology and death: a procedural guide. Joyce’s Print Shop Inc., Clemson
Costa M (1969) The association between mesostigmatic mites and coprid beetles. Acarologia 11:411–428
Council of Europe Comittee of Ministers (1999) Recommendation 99(3) of the committee of ministers to member states on the harmonisation of medico-legal autopsy rules. 658th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies
Crosby TK, Watt JC, Kistemaker AC, Nelson PE (1985) Entomological identification of the origin of imported cannabis. J Forensic Sci Soc 26(1):35–44
González Medina A (2008) Estudio de la sucesión faunística asociada a cadáveres en Huetor Vega (Granada): aplicación a la Entomología Forense. M Sc Dissertation, University of Granada
Hawley DA, Haskell NH, McShaffrey DG, Williams RE, Pless JE (1989) Identification of a red “fiber”: chironomid larvae. J Forensic Sci 34(3):617–621
Houck MA, Oconnor BM (1991) Ecological and evolutionary significance of phoresy in the Astigmata. Ann Rev Entomol 36:611–636
Hyatt KH (1980) Mites of the subfamily Parasitinae (Mesostigmata: Parasitidae) in the British Isles. Bull Brit Mus (Nat Hist) Zool 38:237–378
Introna F, Campobasso CP, Goff ML (2001) Entomotoxicology. Forensic Sci Int 120(1–2):42–47
Introna F, De Donno A, Santoro V, Corrado S, Romano V, Porcelli F, Campobasso CP (2011) The bodies of two missing children in an enclosed underground environment. Forensic Sci Int 207(1–3):e40–e47
Krantz GW, Walter DE (2009) A manual of acarology. Texas Tech University Press, Texas
Lord WD, Burger JF (1983) Collection and preservation of forensically important entomological materials. J Forensic Sci 28(4):936–944
Mégnin P (1894) La Faune des Cadavres. Application de l’Entomologie à la Médecine Légale. G Masson and Gauthier-Villars et Fils, Paris
Merrit RW, Snider R, de Jong JL, Benbow ME, Kimbirauskas RK, Kolar RE (2007) Collembola of the grave: a cold case history involving arthropods 28 years after death. J Forensic Sci 52(6):1359–1361
Neuman KW (1943) Die Lebensgeschichte der Käfermilbe Poecilochirus necrophori Vitzt. nebst Beschreibung aller Entwicklungsstufen. Zool Anz 142(1–2):1–21
Outerelo R, Gamarra P (1985) Las familias y géneros de los Estafilinoideos de la Península Ibérica. Claves de identificación de la Fauna española 10. Editorial Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid
Peacock ER (1993) Adults and larvae of hide, larder and carpet beetles and their relatives (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) and of deronontid beetles (Coleoptera: Derodontidae). RES Handbook Identification for British Insects, London
Perotti MA (2009) Mégnin re-analysed: the case of the newborn baby girl, Paris, 1878. Exp Appl Acarol 49:37–44
Perotti MA, Braig HR (2009) Phoretic mites associated with animal and human decomposition. Exp Appl Acarol 49:85–124
Perotti MA, Goff ML, Baker SA et al (2009) Forensic acarology, an introduction. Exp Appl Acarol 49(1–2):3–13
Prieto Piloña F, Pérez Valcárcel J, Rey-Daluz F (2002) Catálogo de los Silphidae y Agyrtidae (Coleoptera) de la Península Ibérica e Islas Baleares. Bol Soc Entomol Aragon 30:1–32
Reiter C (1984) Zum Wachstumsverhalten der Maden der blauen Schmeiβfliege Calliphora vicina. Z Rechtsmed 91:295–308
Rognes K (1991) Blowflies (Diptera, Calliphoridae) of Eennoscandia and Denmark. Fauna Entomológica Scandinavica, Leiden
Schwarz HH, Koulianos S (1998) When to leave the brood chamber? Routes of dispersal in mites associated with burying beetles. Exp Appl Acarol 22:621–631
Schwarz HH, Müller JK (1992) The dispersal behaviour of the phoretic mite Poecilochirus carabi (Mesostigmata, Parasitidae): adaptation to the breeding biology of its carrier Necrophorus vespilloides (Coleoptera, Silphidae). Oecologia 89:487–493
Solarz K (2011) Domestic and storage mites. An identification guide and diagnoses of taxa. Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Advert Studio, Ruda Slaska
Szpila K (2010) Key for the identification of third instars of European blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of forensic importance. In: Amendt J, Goff ML, Campobasso CP, Grassberger M (eds) Current concepts in forensic entomology, 1st edn. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 43–56
Wallace JR, Merritt RW, Kimbirauskas R, Benbow ME, McIntosh M (2008) Caddisflies assist with homicide case: determining a postmortem submersion interval using aquatic insects. J Forensic Sci 53(1):219–221
Wise GU, Hennessey MK, Axtell RC (1988) A new species of manure-inhabiting mite in the genus Poecilochirus (Acari: Mesostigmata: Parasitidae) predacious on house fly eggs and larvae. Ann Entomol Soc Am 81(2):209–224
Acknowledgments
We thank Krzysztof Solarz (Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland) for providing us with a valuable identification key of domestic mites and the assitance of an anonymous reviewer for the confirmation of mites species and his suggestions for the improvement of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
González Medina, A., González Herrera, L., Perotti, M.A. et al. Occurrence of Poecilochirus austroasiaticus (Acari: Parasitidae) in forensic autopsies and its application on postmortem interval estimation. Exp Appl Acarol 59, 297–305 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-012-9606-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-012-9606-1