Osteophagia by <i>Nasutitermes guayanae</i> (Blattodea: Isoptera: Termitidae) on human bone remains in the Andean Amazon, Caquetá, Colombia

RAMOS-PASTRANA, Yardany; CÓRDOBA-SUAREZ, Eric; WOLFF, Marta

doi:10.1590/1809-4392202100961

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Biodiversity and Conservation • Acta Amaz. 51 (4) • Oct-Dec 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4392202100961 linkcopy

Osteophagia by Nasutitermes guayanae (Blattodea: Isoptera: Termitidae) on human bone remains in the Andean Amazon, Caquetá, Colombia

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We present the first report of Nasutitermes guayanae feeding on human bone remains found in an urban area of the municipality of Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia, in the Colombian Amazon piedmont. The record indicates an expansion in the diet of these termites. The observation suggests that the association of N. guayanae with decomposing bodies may be a possible tool for the estimation of postmortem intervals.

KEYWORDS:
bones; forensic entomology; Nasutiterminae; necrophagous insect

Species	Subfamily	Type of carcass	Local	Reference
Nasutitermes guayanae (Holmgren)	Termitidae: Nasutiterminae	Human bones	Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia	This study
Nasutitermes callimorphus Matheuus	Termitidae: Nasutiterminae	Canis familiaris	Brazil	Eloi et al. 2020
Anitermes amifer silvestri	Termitidae: Amitermitinae	Human bones	Brazil	Queiroz et al. 2017
Nasutitermes corniges (Motschulsky)	Termitidae	Human bones	Brazil	Queiroz et al. 2017
Microcerotermes indistinctus Hagen	Termitidae: Amitermitinae	Human bones	Brazil	Queiroz et al. 2017
Rhynchotermes nasutissimus (Silvestri)	Termitidae: Syntermitinae	Rat	Brazil	Prestes et al. 2014
Trinervitermes trinervoides (Sjöstedt)	Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae	Gallus domesticus, Ovis aries, bovid bones	Sterkfontein Valley, South Africa	Backwell et al. 2012
Unknown	Unknown	Human bones	Huaca de Luna, Peru	Huchet et al. 2011
Reticulitermes sp.	Rhinotermitidae	Pig carrion	Uyo, Nigéria	Ekanem and Dike 2010
Unknown	Termitidae	Rat carrion	Caracas, Venezuela	Velásquez 2008
Odontotermes sp.	Termitidae: Macrotermitinae	Grant’s gazelle (also hooves)	Serengueti, Tanzania	Freymann et al. 2007
Unknown	Unknown	Human fossil	Laetoli, Tanzania	Kaiser 2000
Unknown	Unknown	Elephants and buffalo bones	Zaire, Angola	Tappen 1994
Mastotermes darwiniensis (Froggatt)	Termitidae: Macrotermitinae	Elephants bones	Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe	Haynes 1991
Pseudacanthotermes militaris (Hagen)	Mastotermitidae	Elephant bones	Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe	Haynes 1991
Nasutitermes carnarvonensis (Hill)	Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae	Human bones	Carnarvon Region, Australia	Wylie et al. 1987
Coptotermes acinaciformis (Froggatt)	Rhinotermitidae	Recent and fossil mammal bones	Laboratory experiment	Watson and Abbey 1986
Nautitermes nigriceps (Haldeman)	Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae	Boa, agouti, three-toed sloth, turtle	Barro Colorado, Panama	Thorne and Kimsey 1983
Nautitermes nigriceps (Haldeman)	Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae	Boa, agouti, three-toed sloth, turtle	Barro Colorado, Panama	Thorne and Kimsey 1983
Odontotermes zambesiensis (Sjöstedt)	Termitidae: Macrotermitinae	Elephant cartilages and ligaments	Tsavo, Kenia	Coe 1978
Unknown	Unknown	Cow jaw bones	Amboseli National Park, Kenia	Behrensmeyer 1978
Unknown	Unknown	Human bones	Queensland, Australia	Wood 1976
Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki	Rhinotermitidae	Human bones	China	Light 1929
Unknown	Unknown	Human bones	Ancient Nubia, Egypt	Derry 1911

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