Boletín de la RSEHN. Sección Biológica

El orden Diptera constituye el grupo dominante de la comunidad sarcosaprófaga en número, diversidad y en términos de materia orgánica consumida en cadáveres animales, contribuyendo a obtener conclusiones en la práctica forense. De entre ellos, ciertos grupos suelen ser ignorados al estudiar las comunidades sarcosaprófagas o son citados sólo al nivel de familia, a pesar de que algunos pueden estar bien representados en la comunidad. En este trabajo, se presentan los resultados faunísticos del estudio de 8.247 ejemplares pertenecientes a 64 especies de 11 familias del suborden Brachycera (Diptera), recogidos durante la realización de un estudio sobre la fauna entomosarcosaprófaga asociada a cadáveres animales en El Morrón de Espuña, a 1.500 m de altitud, en el Parque Natural de Sierra Espuña (Murcia), en el que se utilizó, como dispositivo de muestreo, una trampa tipo Schoenly modificada cebada con cadáveres de lechón (Sus scrofa L.) de unos 5 Kg de peso. Se tomaron muestras en todas las estaciones anuales, en periodos de 8 semanas. Los resultados aportan novedades interesantes para la fauna de los dípteros sarcosaprófagos del SE español, ampliándose las distribuciones conocidas de diversas especies y contribuyendo al desarrollo de una base de datos sobre fauna entomológica cadavérica para esa región.

Carrion constitutes a very rich nutritive resource for a great variety of animals and can directly or indirectly affect the global animal community. They contribute to the specific diversity, its dynamics and the nutrient recycling. The community of sarcosaprophagous arthropods is influenced by different variables such as the biogeographical area, which affects seasonality, habitat, vegetation, type of soil, weather conditions… Thus, the compilation of species lists for carrion-inhabiting arthropods from various geographical regions, and even from different environments within a ecosystem, becomes important, both in terms of faunal knowledge and for its potential application to forensic practice by establishing a database of species related to corpses in every region since, in fact, although many families of insects attracted to corpses are relatively ubiquitous, their individual species vary from region to region, highlighting the importance of performing local studies.

The Diptera are the dominant group of the sarcosaprophagous community, both in number and diversity and in terms of removed organic matter from animal corpses, and allow getting conclusions of applied forensic interest. But, despite that, among the Diptera, some groups are usually ignored in studies on sarcosaprophagous communities or, at best, considered only at the family level, although it can become a significant proportion of that community.

A study of the whole entomosarcosaprophagous community was conducted at a site near the top of El Morrón de Espuña, at the Regional Park of Sierra Espuña, in Murcia province, Southeastern Spain. A modified Schoenly trap was used to collect the arthropod fauna during all seasons. The trap was baited with a 5 Kg piglet (Sus scrofa L.) carcass. This trap is known to provide excellent results in evaluating communities of adult sarcosaprophagous dipterans and is considered a superior methodology to perform inventories of Diptera associated with carcasses. Every sampling period lasted about 8 weeks. Samples were taken daily during the first 15 days of exposition of the corpse and, afterwards, every two, three or more days, depending on the fauna observed.

A total of 64 species were identified, belonging to 11 families, in a total of 8,247 adult specimens of Brachycera (Diptera) studied. The results provide interesting news on sarcosaprophagous Diptera from Southeastern Spain, such as new records that enlarge the up to now known distribution of several species in the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, the families Camilidae and Carnidae are recorded for the first time from Murcia Region, as well as 20 genera and 43 species. Three new species to be described, belonging to families Carnidae, Sphaeroceridae and Trixocelididae, are cited. Otherwise, two families (Camillidae and Conopidae) and 20 species are referred for the first time as belonging to the cadaveric ecosystem in the Iberian Peninsula. These results enhance the faunistic knowledge of this fauna and will contribute to develop the indispensable database for forensic practice. Animal carrion demonstrates to be a particular environment supporting a rich biodiversity, consequence of a great biological and chemical activity. Its study is of great interest from both the biological and applied to forensic practice points of view.