Coleoptera are currently considered a fundamental tool to help solve criminal investigations, allowing forensic entomologists to estimate post-mortem intervals and obtain other ecology-related information. Thanatophilus rugosus (Linnaeus, 1758) is an important necrophagous beetle distributed through most of the Palaearctic region, where it is readily found on human bodies and animal carcasses. In this study, the new thermal summation models for all the developmental stages of Thanatophilus rugosus are provided. Beetles were reared at six different constant and ecologically relevant temperatures (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22 °C), and their developmental times were measured. Thermal summation constants were calculated for each developmental stage (egg, three larval instars, post-feeding stage, and pupa).

Department of Ecology Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Kamýcká 129 165 00 Praha Suchdol Czech Republic

Police of the Czech Republic Institute of Criminalistics Prague P O Box 62 KUP 170 89 Praha Czech Republic

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