Envenomization with Snake Versus Scorpion Venom: Postmortem Repercussions on the Successional Dynamics of Carcass-Attracted Flies in a Forensic Context.

BACKGROUND

Animal venoms may alter postmortem carcass conditions and thereby influence carrion-associated insects. However, it remains unclear whether lethal envenomization affects adult Diptera as a broad assemblage-level response or as taxon-specific changes during decomposition.

METHODS

Fifteen rabbits were assigned to control, snake-envenomized, or scorpion-envenomized treatments (with five carcasses each). Carcasses were exposed under semi-natural conditions, until complete dryness, over 11 days postmortem. Adult flies were collected daily for analyzing abundance at total, family, and selected species levels, using negative GLMM, with carcass identity as a random effect and postmortem day as a nonlinear predictor.

RESULTS

A total of 5497 adult flies representing 13 species in seven families was recorded. Total fly abundance was similar among treatments and was mainly structured by postmortem day. In contrast, treatment-related temporal patterns were detected at finer taxonomic levels, especially at the family level for Muscidae, Ephydridae, and Sarcophagidae; and at the species level for the sarcophagid Sarcophaga argyrostoma and the ephydrid Actocetor indicus only.

CONCLUSIONS

both snake and scorpion envenomization did not produce a broad shift in total adult-fly abundance, but in selected Dipteran taxa showing treatment-related responses during particular postmortem periods. These findings should be interpreted cautiously as exploratory observations rather than evidence of a robust venom effect on adult fly communities.