Background: Lack of information about the dispersal of vector species barricade surveillance and control. Aims: Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the species diversity of Culex mosquito's larvae in the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf. Methods: Mosquito larvae were collected from six places in three main environmental categories: urban (UA), rural (RA) and uninhabited areas (UNA), using dipping technique. Four dips were taken from each breeding site (350 ml each). Larval investigation was conducted two times a month during the study period. Diversity studies were conducted separately for each category by calculating classic diversity indices. Results: In total, 1369 specimens belonging to 10 different species were collected and identified, as follows: Culex hortensis, Cx. laticinctus, Cx. mimeticus, Cx. perexiguus, Cx. pipiens, Cx. modestus, Cx. sinaiticus, Cx. theileri, Cx. torrentium and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus. None of these mosquito species have been recorded previously in this region. Diversity analysis indicated higher species richness for RA (Margalef 1/26). The average diversity indices for the three environment types ranged from 1.50 to 1.64 for Shannon index and from 0.730 to 0.738 for Simpson index. Conclusions: Biodiversity analysis indicated that species diversity in rural, urban and uninhabited areas is somewhat similar. Therefore, attention to all areas in vector control programs is essential.

The entomofauna found on animal carrion, which is used as vertebrate model, can help in the estimation of postmortem interval (PMI). The aim of this study was to determine the succession pattern of insects on carrion in outdoor and indoor habitats in Fars Province, southwestern Iran. A total of 19 species from nine families were collected. Chrysomya albiceps and Musca domestica were the first species to visit the outdoor carrion while only Musca domestica was seen on the indoor carrion. Sarcophaga crassipalpis, Lucillia sericata, and Histeridae species were observed exclusively on the indoor carrion while Dermestes maculatus, Piophila casei, and some hymenopteran species were the most dominant species seen on the outdoor carrion. Vespula germanica and Vespa orientalis fed on both outdoor and indoor habitats. Insects’ succession pattern was found to differ between the two respective habitats. This is really important and could be used in medicolegal cases to estimate the PMI.

Background: Evaluation of insect succession patterns is a scientific method to estimate the time elapsed since death. Several studies have shown that ante-mortem intake of opioids affect maggot growth rate. However, there are few published data that investigate the effect of ante-mortem opioid use on insect succession patterns.Therefore, the main purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of methadone on the succession patterns of insects on rabbit carcasses during the spring and winter of 2019. In the present study, the H-null hypothesis represents the dissimilarity between the successional waves of species from testing and control carcasses (H0: P: 0).Results: During this study, 15 and 13 insect species were collected from carcasses during the spring and winter, respectively. The most dominant species during the both seasons wereChrysomya albicepsandCalliphora vicina. These two species preferred to lay eggs on the control carcasses earlier than the treated carcasses.Lucilia cuprinawas observed only from the remains of untreated carcasses, whileSaprinus chalcitesandNecrobia rufipeswere recorded only from the remains of treated rabbits. Samples indicate that 11.8% of the insects were members of the Coleoptera. Permutation analyzes based on the Mantel test were 0.647 ± 0.16 (P= 0.009) and 0.693 ± 0.16 (P= 0.003) for the similarity of the species between treated and untreated carcasses in the spring and winter, respectively. Permutation analyzes for the two most dominant fly species (Ch. albicepsandC. vicina) between the treated and untreated carcasses in the spring and winter were 0.515 ± 0.15 (P= 0.05) and 0.491 ± 0.14 (P= 0.09), respectively.Conclusion: The results revealed that the overall pattern of insect succession was similar between the treated and untreated rabbit carcasses. However, the patterns of succession ofChrysomya albicepsandCalliphora vicinadiffered slightly between treated and untreated carcasses, and this could have an effect on the PMI min estimate.

Medico legal forensic entomology is the science and study of cadaveric arthropods related to criminal investigations. The study of beetles is particularly important in forensic cases. This can be important in determining the time of death and also obtain qualitative information about the location of the crime. The aim of this study was to introduce the Saprinus planiusculus on a rat carrion as a beetle species of forensic importance in Khuzestan province. This study was carried out using a laboratory bred rat (Wistar rat) as a model for human decomposition. The rat was killed by contusion and placed in a location adjacent to the Karun River. Observations and collections of beetles were made daily during May to July 2015. Decomposition time for rat carrion lasted 38 days and S. planiusculus was seen in the fresh to post decay stages of body decomposition and the largest number of this species caught in the decay stage. The species of beetle found in this case could be used in forensic investigations, particularly during the warm season in the future.

Mosquitoes are potential vectors of some important diseases for humans and animals. Apart from mosquito borne diseases, mosquitoes cause nuisances for both humans and animals when they are abundant. The objective of this study was to determine the fauna of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Farashband County, southwest of Iran. The study was carried out from April to September 2012. Four collection sites, were selected randomly with regard to existing facilities in Farashband County. Sampling was carried out by dipping technique for collecting larvae and pyrethrum space spray collection (PSSC) for adult mosquitoes. Mean temperature was recorded for every month. A total of 1152 adults and 1505 larvae of Culicidae mosquitoes were collected, of which 3 genera and 7 species of Culicidae were recognized, namely, Anopheles superpictus, An. dthali, Culex sitaiticus, Cx. theileri, Cx. pipiens, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus and Culiseta longiareolata. Cs. longiareolata was the most frequent Culicidae mosquito collected at Farashband, with a total of 513, and 249 specimens, by larval and PSSC collection, respectively. The highest numbers of mosquitoes were collected in July (34.9%) and the lowest in April (3.8%), respectively. Regarding this research, there are some potential vectors in medical and veterinary importance in Farashband County and they are more active in July and June.