Ecological and Forensic Implications of Social Wasps on Pig Carcass Degradation in Brazilian Savannah

Abstract

Herein are recorded the composition and richness of 188 specimens of social wasps collected processing pig carcasses (Sus scrofa L.) in a Brazilian Savannah. Among the species collected Polybia (Myrapetra) fastidiosuscula de Saussure, 1854 (n = 178), Polybia (Trichotorax) ignobilis (Haliday, 1836) (n = 6), Apoica (Apoica) gelida Van der Vecth, 1972 (n = 3) and Polybia (Trichotorax) sericea (Olivier, 1791) (n = 1) were founded using fresh, bloated, decayed and skeletonized pig caracass. P. fastidiosuscula showed significant differences among decomposition stages, with preference for the bloated stage. The high abundance of social wasps in animal carcasses under decomposition, mainly those considered necrophagous, reveals the ecological importance of these wasps in carcass fragmentation by directly influencing the duration of the decomposition process. Moreover, the preference of P. fastidiosuscula for the bloated stage may be used as subsidy for forensic implications.