Effects of Clonazepam on developmental stages, larval weight, and length measurements of Calliphora vicina

Benzodiazepines such as clonazepam can cause overdose-related deaths when used either therapeutically or illicitly. In cases where routine forensic methods are unable to determine the time and cause of death due to advanced decomposition, these drugs may affect the development of necrophagous insects and lead to deviations in PMI estimations. Investigating these potential effects on necrophagous insects provides valuable comparative data for minPMI estimates. The present study investigate the effects of different clonazepam concentrations on the larval and pupal developmental stages, larval weight, and length measurements of C. vicina. Experimental studies were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. Laboratory studies were initiated with newly hatched first-instar larvae and continued with checks at six-hour intervals until adult emergence. For the larval weight measurements presented in the study, 10 larvae were randomly selected from each experimental group and weighed (in milligrams) on a precision balance. The subjects were then subjected to a boiling water bath, and their body lengths (mm) were meticulously recorded. The posterior spiracles were examined under an Olympus BX51 stereo microscope in order to ascertain the developmental stages. The present dataset supplies reference data for the determination of PMI in cases of suspected death due to clonazepam by means of C. vicina.