PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF LORAZEPAM ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CALLIPHORA VICINA AND CALLIPHORA LOEWI (DIPTERA: CALLIPHORIDAE) AND PMI ESTIMATION

Abstract

Larvae of C alliphora vicina and Calliphora loewi were reared on minced cattle lung tissues treated with different Lorazepam concentrations based on levels of public common usage for therapeutical, narcotic and suicidal purposes to evaluate the reliability of insect larvae for toxicological investigations. The species are studied to determine time deviations caused by toxicological influences owing to their features like speed on heading the corpse, value on PMI estimation, briefness at developmental processes and easiness about rearing at laboratory conditions. Body length, weight, death ratio of larvae and pupa were compared within control groups. The results demonstrated that larvae feeding on drug containing tissues in slight dosages developed more rapidly and adult emergence was greater, but also higher concentrations created completely adverse results. The time required for pupation was significantly greater for colonies fed on tissues from lorazepam-dosed diets than for the control group. Results emphasize the importance of determining the contamination rates of lorazepam are essential to prevent deviation on PMI estimations