Parasitic and predatory behavior of Alysia manducator (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) on blow fly larvae feeding on an adult pig carcass in the Western Cape Province of South Africa: preliminary observations and forensic implications.

Autor: Adetimehin AD; Department of Pathology, Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. yemiadetimehin@gmail.com., Mole CG; Department of Pathology, Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa., Finaughty DA; Department of Human Biology, Division of Clinical Anatomy and Biological Anthropology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.; School of Chemistry and Forensic Science, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK., Heyns M; Department of Pathology, Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.; School of Medicine, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, Ulster University, Derry/Londonderry, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: International journal of legal medicine [Int J Legal Med] 2024 Jan; Vol. 138 (1), pp. 281-288. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Apr 21.
DOI: 10.1007/s00414-023-03001-5
Abstrakt: Wasps are part of the entomofauna associated with vertebrate carrion. They are known to parasitize and prey on specific life stages of insect hosts such as eggs, larvae, pupae, and/or adults associated with vertebrate carrion. However, reports of parasitic behavior of wasps on carrion-associated insect life stages and their possible forensic implications are non-existent in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. This study is part of ongoing research investigating the entomofauna and their pattern of succession on an adult pig carcass in Cape Town, South Africa. During this study, the parasitic wasp Alysia manducator was noted parasitizing and preying on blow fly larvae associated with the decomposing carcass. The arrival of A. manducator coincides with the occurrence of blow fly eggs and/or larvae on the carcass. These wasps were seen in close association with the eggs and larvae of blow flies on various parts of the carcass and some wasps were seen dragging fly larvae attached to their ovipositors away from one part of the carcass to another. Some A. manducator were also observed walking over several larvae on the carcass while exhibiting a stabbing behavior presumably in search of a host for oviposition. We suggest that the observations recorded in this study are of considerable forensic importance as the dragging effect and predatory and stabbing behavior exhibited by A. manducator could potentially disrupt the feeding and development of the fly larvae on the carcass. This could subsequently alter the process of carcass decomposition and/or affect minimum post-mortem interval estimations.
(© 2023. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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