Sex‐ and Size‐Related Patterns of Carrion Visitation in Necrodes littoralis (Coleoptera: Silphidae) and Creophilus maxillosus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)

The estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) based on successional patterns of adult insects is largely limited, due to the lack of potential PMI markers. Sex and size of adult insects could be easily used for such estimation. In this study, sex‐ and size‐related patterns of carrion attendance by adult insects were analyzed in Necrodes littoralis (Coleoptera: Silphidae) and Creophilus maxillosus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). For both species, abundance of males and females changed similarly during decomposition. A slightly female‐biased sex ratio was recorded in N. littoralis. Females of N. littoralis started visiting carcasses, on average, one day earlier than males. There was a rise in size of males of N. littoralis at the end of decomposition, whereas for females of both species and males of C. maxillosus, no size‐related patterns of carrion visitation were found. Current results demonstrate that size and sex of adult carrion beetles are poor indicators of PMI.     

Marginalization in Urban Spaces of the Global South: Urban Refugees in Cairo

The paper explores the marginalization of Sudanese refugeesin Cairo, arguing that although socially, economically, culturallyand politically marginalized, refugees participate and contributeto the transformation of urban spaces in Cairo, as they do elsewherein the developing world. The paper finds that in terms of legalsecurity and livelihood coping strategies, there is little differencebetween those refugees with legal status and those residingillegally in Egypt. Despite social exclusion and lack of accessto rights and services, some Sudanese refugees balance risksand costs of marginalization to advance their livelihoods. Ingeneral, in the context of lack of full integration possibilitiesin Egypt and inadequate assistance provided by the United NationsHigh Commissioner for Refugees Office and international andlocal organizations and faith-based institutions, refugees comeup with creative ways of managing their livelihoods, contributingboth economically and culturally to the host society. In thiscontext, refugees are seen as social agents, rather than aneconomic burden for the host country.