ABSTRACT: Coleoptera, including the family Nitidulidae, are valuable for estimating long-term postmortem intervals in the late stage of body decomposition. This study showed that, under seven constant temperatures of 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34 °C, the developmental durations of Nitidula rufipes (Linnaeus, 1767) from oviposition to eclosion were 71.0 ± 4.4, 52.9 ± 4.1, 40.1 ± 3.4, 30.1 ± 2.1, 24.2 ± 2.0, 21.0 ±2.3, and 20.8 ± 2.4 days, respectively. The morphological indexes of body length, the widths of the head capsules, and the distance between the urogomphi of the larvae were measured in vivo. The regression model between larval body length and developmental durations was simulated for larval aging, and the head capsule width and the distance between the urogomphi at different instars
