1.Influence of citronella and chlorpyrifos on Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) and Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) infesting rabbit carcasses
Denis, C.I. ; Nordin, N.H. ; Azman, A.R. ; Abdul Wahab, R. ; Ismail, D. ; Omar, B. ; Mahat, N.A.
Tropical Biomedicine 2018;35(3):755-768
Influence of citronella and chlorpyrifos on oviposition and duration for completing
life cycles for Chrysomya megacephala and Chrysomya rufifacies infesting decomposing
rabbit carcasses was studied. Male rabbit carcasses (n = 12) were equally divided into
control, citronella- and chlorpyrifos–treated groups, and left to decompose for 14 consecutive
days. C. megacephala was the first necrophagous fly oviposited in all control and citronellatreated
carcasses followed by C. rufifacies. Although initial oviposition of C. megacephala
was delayed (4-6 hours) in citronella-treated carcasses (P < 0.05), prolongation in completing
its life cycle was not observed. Neither delayed initial oviposition nor prolonged life cycle for
C. rufifacies in citronella-treated carcasses was observed. Oviposition was delayed for
chlorpyrifos-treated carcasses (0.42 g/L), and eclosion of eggs remained unsuccessful. The
findings deserve consideration because these chemicals are easily accessible and can be
used by cunning criminals to confuse forensic entomologists while estimating minimum postmortem
interval.