Journal of Medical Toxicology and Clinical Forensic Medicine

Seasonal Variation In The Occurrence Of Forensically Important Insect Fauna Associated With Decomposition Of Pig(Sus scrofa) Carcass In Minna, Nigeria

The need to provide a baseline for forensically important insect species in Minna North Central Nigeria informed this study. A total of twenty four pigs with an average weight of 22.30g were sacrificed through stabbing, oxygen deprivation and poisoning with zinc phosphate to evaluate the occurrence of forensically important insect species in Minna, North Central Nigeria. Fifteen (15) insect species belonging to three orders and nine (9) families of insect were encountered throughout the study period. Similar insect species colonized the carcasses of stabbed and oxygen-deprived pigs during the rainy and dry seasons, include Ants, M. domestica, L. sericata, C. albiceps, C. rufafices, H. ligurriens. T. abtasus and N. rufipes. However the only two species of insects (M. domestica and L. sericata) that colonized the carcass of poisoned pig did so at the fresh stage of decomposition. Generally there was no significant (P> 0.05) variation in the duration of putrefaction at each decompositional stages of the carcasses at the two seasons in each methods of sacrifice ,there was however significant (P<0.05) difference in those among the methods of sacrifice as the poisoned carcasses spent significantly (P<0.05) longer periods at each stage of decomposition and in each season. Interestingly the decomposition of the poisoned pigs were incomplete up to sixty days of the decomposition study.

Author(s):

Jibrin

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