Impact of Sunlight Exposure on the Diversity and Succession of Insects Associated with Strangulated Juvenile Pig Carcasses

C.A. Timothy¹ , E. Okrikata² , J.A. Tidi³

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.8 , Issue.10 , pp.21-27, Oct-2022

Online published on Oct 31, 2022

Copyright © C.A. Timothy, E. Okrikata, J.A. Tidi . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
Decomposition of carcasses is a continuous process that is mostly associated with successional invasion by arthropods, insects in particular. Application of these successional patterns can be of immense use in forensic investigations. But limited data with regards juveniles particularly in developing countries exist, informing the need for this study. Two juvenile pigs of 10kg mean weight were killed by strangulation at the Research Garden of Biological Sciences Department of Federal University Wukari and monitored till the dry stage of decomposition. The specimens which were kept about 25m apart, having one under a tree shade and the other left exposed. Both were protected from vertebrate scavengers using metal cages, while daily sampling for adult arthropods was done using a combination of sweep net, pitfall traps and manual picking. Daily collections of invading arthropods using the different techniques were pooled and the data used to compute relative abundance (RA) and frequency of occurrence (FO) on each specimen. Taxa with FO ? 25% and RA ? 1% were regarded as dominant species. Diversity indices were computed using Paleontological Statistical Tool (Past3). Results of the study showed that both carcasses completed decomposition in 14 days of which a total of 781 arthropods were sampled from the exposed carcass, with Hister monitor, Dermestes maculatus, Zophosis sp., Chrysomya chloropyga and Pheidole sp. as dominant insects while 816 arthropods with an addition of Camponotus perrisii and Camponotus maculatus to the aforementioned were dominant on the shaded carcass. Slight differences were observed in the duration of the active and dry decomposition stages of both carcasses but at the end, while the shaded carcass was left with dried leathery skin, the exposed carcass mummified wholly. Although the analysis of species similarity for both total sampled species and dominant species showed a > 50% species similarity for both carcasses, the successional pattern of C. chloropyga (the most dominant species) on both carcasses showed a clear variation. Thus, differences in species composition, decompositional stages, postmortem changes as well as succession of C. chloropyga may largely be dependent on the effect of sunlight exposure on the carcasses.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Decomposition, succession, sunlight exposure, juvenile pig, insects

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