Sains Malaysiana 40(6)(2011): 601–604

Opportunistic Insects Associated with Pig Carrions in Malaysia

(Serangga Oportunis Berasosiasi dengan Bangkai Khinzir di Malaysia)

Heo Chong Chin*

Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Hiromu Kurahashi

International Department of Dipterology, Hikawadai 1-2-21, Higashikurume City, Tokyo 203-0004 Japan

Mohamed Abdullah Marwi

Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Faculty of Medicine

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

John Jeffery

Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine

University Malaya, 50600 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Baharudin Omar

Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz

50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Received: 21 June 2010 / Accepted: 21 October 2010

ABSTRACT

Flies from the family Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae and Muscidae are usually found on human cadavers or animal carcasses. However, there are many other families of Diptera and Coleoptera that were found associated with animal carcasses, which have not been reported in Malaysia. In this paper, we report dipterans from the family Micropezidae: Mimegralla albimana Doleschall, 1856, Neriidae: Telostylinus lineolatus (Wiedemann 1830); Sepsidae: Allosepsis indica (Wiedemann 1824), Ulidiidae: Physiphora sp. and a beetle (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae: Sphaeridium sp.) as opportunist species feeding on oozing fluid during the decomposition process. They did not oviposit on the pig carcasses, therefore, their role in estimation of time of death is of little importance. However, they could provide clues such as locality and types of habitats of the crime scene.

Keywords: Acalyptrate; Coleoptera; Diptera; forensic entomology; pig carrions

ABSTRAK

Lalat daripada famili Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae and Muscidae adalah biasa dijumpai di atas mayat manusia ataupun bangkai haiwan. Akan tetapi, banyak lagi famili Diptera dan Coleoptera yang berasosiasi dengan bangkai haiwan masih belum dilaporkan di Malaysia. Dalam karya ini, kami melaporkan Diptera daripada famili Micropezidae: Mimegralla albimana Doleschall, 1856, Neriidae: Telostylinus lineolatus (Wiedemann 1830); Sepsidae: Allosepsis indica (Wiedemann 1824) dan Ulidiidae: Physiphora sp. dan sejenis kumbang (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae: Sphaeridium sp.) sebagai serangga oportunis pada bangkai khinzir dimana mereka menjilat cecair yang mengalir keluar semasa proses pereputan. Serangga ini tidak bertelur pada bangkai khinzir. Oleh sebab itu, mereka tidak memainkan peranan penting dalam penganggaran waktu kematian. Walaupun begitu, kehadiran serangga ini dapat memberikan maklumat seperti lokasi dan jenis habitat berkaitan dengan tempat kejadian jenayah.

Kata kunci: Acalyptrate; bangkai khinzir; Coleoptera; Diptera; entomologi forensic

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*Corresponding author; email: chin@salam.uitm.edu.my