The "Coffin Fly" Conicera tibialis (Diptera: Phoridae) Breeding on Buried Human Remains After a Postmortem Interval of 18 Years

The "coffin fly," Conicera tibialis Schmitz (Order: Diptera, Family: Phoridae), is well known for its frequent occurrence on buried corpses, in some cases after postmortem intervals of even 3-5 years. The present report describes the presence of a large amount of individuals of C. tibialis...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Martín Vega, Daniel|||0000-0002-5626-5441, Gómez Gómez, Aida María, Baz Ramos, Arturo|||0000-0002-6750-2940
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Alcalá (UAH)
Repositorio:e_Buah Biblioteca Digital Universidad de Alcalá
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ebuah.uah.es:10017/63147
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10017/63147
https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01839.x
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Forensic science
Forensic entomology
Burial
Exhumation
Postmortem interval
Conicera tibialis
Phoridae
Zoología
Zoology
Descripción
Sumario:The "coffin fly," Conicera tibialis Schmitz (Order: Diptera, Family: Phoridae), is well known for its frequent occurrence on buried corpses, in some cases after postmortem intervals of even 3-5 years. The present report describes the presence of a large amount of individuals of C. tibialis inside the coffin of a buried human corpse exhumed 18 years after death in central Spain. Adults, some of them newly emerged, and empty puparia were found in connection with the remains. Such postmortem interval is significantly longer than previously known for this species and raises the question on the current state of knowledge about the use of insects for estimating the postmortem interval in old, buried remains.