Influence of insecticide on insect fauna of forensic importance in rat carcasses (Rattus norvegicus) exposed in a suburban area near Atlantic rainforest fragments of southeastern Brazil
Abstract
Forensic entomology is the science that applies the study of insects, in combination with other forensic disciplines, in investigations. Chemical compounds, common in deaths linked to accidental or deliberate use of poisons or other toxic substances may alter the succession pattern and development of insects presents in corpses, leading to errors in estimating the postmortem interval. Carcasses of rats (Rattus norvegicus) were sprayed with insecticides of pyrethrins and pyrethroids group and exposed in a suburban area in the Atlantic Rainforest domain. The results indicated that pesticides alter the entomological succession, affecting the activity and development of insects found in dead bodies, modifying the duration of stages of decomposition and may lead to an error in estimating the postmortem interval.