International Journal of Entomology Research

Authors
M Pavaraj, K Eswaran, Akhilesh Kumar, MK Rajan

Abstract
The ecological succession pattern represents an important tool in legal investigations. Forensic entomology is the application and study of insects and other arthropod biology to criminal matters. It involves the interaction of arthropods (mainly insects) with legal activity. Forensic entomology is the study of insects associated with a dead body and has been used and accepted in courts around the world. It is primarily concerned to determine time of death. In the present study a total of 123 insects belonging to seven Families of 3 Orders namely Diptera (Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae), Hymenoptera (Formicidae), and Coleoptera (Dermestidae, Histeridae and Staphylinidae) was observed from rodent carcass at the time intervals. The major species was the house fly, Musca domestica (26.02 %), followed by Hypoponera Sp (16.26 %), Blue fly (8.94 %) and other insects was observed in least number. The order Diptera was dominant in rodent carcasses when compared with other Orders. Total decomposition period was 11 days. The diversity indices such as, Dominance_D (123), Shannon_H (2.199), Simpson_1-D (0.8648) and Evenness_e^H/S (0.8198) were also analyzed.