Decomposition and arthropod Succession on two monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiopicus

Abstract

This study was carried out at the Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology. Monkeys were used as a model to mimic
decomposition of a human cadaver. For this study two monkeys (freshly dead) were exposed to insects in two different
sites, one site was in the sun and located on the roof of the Zoology Department, and the other was in the shade and located
under a tree near the animal house of the Zoology Department. The Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae and Muscidae (Diptera)
are the primary insects associated with carrion followed by Histeridae, Cleridae and Dermestidae (Coleoptera).
There was no difference in the arthropod community collected from sun and shade sites of the two animals; but the
decomposition was faster in the sunny area than in shaded one.