A case of flying insects visiting an anatomy and embalming laboratory in Medellín, Colombia

From July to September of 2012, the fauna of flying insects visiting the anatomy and embalming laboratory of the Tecnológico de Antioquia, Faculty of Forensic Sciences, located in the city of Medellin, Colombia, were recorded. The first checklist in the literature of incidental flying insects occurring in this type of locale is provided, and a brief discussion is given of their behavioral habits related to this uncommon case.

As there is no previous data of insect diversity in these environments, no comparisons were possible. However, it is remarkable that three insect orders were present (Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera), and each species belonged to a single family and genus with the exception of the Apidae bees. The most frequent species was the common honey bee Apis mellifera (Linnaeus 1758), followed by the syrphid fly Ornidia obesa (Fabricius 1775).

The honey bee Apis mellifera is an active pollinator and anthophile, and may be attracted to scents released by alcoholic substances.  The abundance of bee specimens collected during this study may be an artifact that could be explained by their social nature and the possibility that they came from a nearby colony. Vespid wasps, honey bees, and Euglossine bees are usually attracted to carrion by preference when fluids are present.

Sugarcane spirit is a liquor beverage obtained from the distillation of fermented sugarcane juice; the standard chemical composition of this liquor includes alcohols such as Methanol (CH3OH) and Ethanol (C2H6O); esters such as Ethyl acetate (C4H8O2); aldehydes such as Acetaldehyde (C2H4O); acids such as Acetic acid (CH3COOH), Furfural (C5H4O2), and hydroximetilfurfural (C6H6O3), among others.

Insect attractiveness of this particular case may be explained by the occurrence of these volatile substances in the composition of the spirit drinks acting as kairomones or pheromones, respectively. This effect is increased by including natural Anise essential oils (from Pimpinella anisum) in the elaboration process of aguardiente liquor.

[ ] Fig. 1. The common Honeybee Apis mellifera foraging on a right hand of human corpse. 

Amat E, Giraldo CS, Montoya GA, A case of flying insects visiting an anatomy and embalming laboratory in Medellín, Colombia, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine (2016), doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2016.07.012.

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