Fig 2 - available from: International Journal of Legal Medicine
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Some insect taxa can be of critical importance for criminal investigations because they can be used to assist with a time since death determination. Blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) often are the initial colonizers of a carcass, usually arriving within minutes to hours after carcass exposure during the day. Other insects, such as coleopterans an...
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... Most of the fauna attracted to cadavers are species within two insect orders: Diptera (true flies) and Coleoptera (beetles) [14]. The dipteran species are typically the first to arrive at a fresh carcass, being able to detect and locate remains within hours, minutes [15] and sometimes seconds [16] after death. The predominant families in this order are Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, Muscidae and Fanniidae [14]. ...
the forensic entomologist may be a valuable adjunct to the pathologist or medical examiner [5]. To aid in the determination of TSD a forensic entomologist typically estimates the minimum postmortem interval (PMI min) [1, 4]. Numerous techniques adopted into forensic entomology have allowed experts in the field to accurately collect entomological evidence which may be pivotal in solving a death investigation. In many cases forensic entomology can address whether remains have been relocated or concealed following death [6], the season and geographical location of death [7], the time of dismemberment [8], the identification of sites of trauma [5], postmortem artifacts on the body (e.g. weapon used) [9], the use of drugs and poisons (Entomotoxicology) [10] and the submersion interval [11]. Forensic entomology can also link a suspect to the scene of a crime [4] sexual assault and the identification of suspects (e.g. associating DNA with a suspect) [12, 13]. Insects can also be used as forensic indicators in cases of human and animal abuse or neglect [4] .
... Blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are the primary colonizers of human and animal remains [9] due to their high acuity for locating remains via chemosensation [4,10] and their ability to detect exposed remains in an environment quickly [11][12][13][14][15]. After detecting and locating a resource, gravid adults primarily lay eggs near or in natural body openings such as the mouth, eyes, and ears due to the easy access to sufficient soft, moist tissues via mucous membranes [16,17]. ...
The feeding of vertebrate scavengers on animal remains has been noted for at least 30 years in relation to the creation of postmortem artifacts. However, the subsequent impact on other necrophagous arthropods, which interact with these remains has not been well documented. Herein, we report a rodent (Rattus spp.) feeding event that altered a perimortem wound beneath the jaw of a decomposing swine carcass. Point trauma such as this has been cited as insufficient for insect colonization; however, the resulting enlargement of the wound due to scavenger feeding has the potential to serve as an oviposition site where colonization would typically not be expected otherwise (i.e., in the absence of a wound or the presence of a small wound such as point trauma). In fact, colonization was observed surrounding the site of scavenger alteration. If scavenger artifacts (e.g., postmortem alteration of remains by feeding) are not identified appropriately and recognized for the effects they may have on necrophagous arthropods then associated assessments in forensic investigations could be affected.
... In order to use entomological evidence for the estimation of the minPMI, it is necessary to know the entomofauna present in a given geographical area during a specific season, along with information regarding the developmental rate of the major necrophilous species of that area. Diptera-specifically the Calliphoridae family (commonly known as blowflies)-are among the first colonizers of decomposing remains; they have the ability to detect and locate a body within minutes [4] or seconds [5] after its exposure and, therefore, are reliable for the estimation of minPMI. ...
Understanding the biodiversity and distribution of forensically relevant blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in a region can aid in legal investigations when insects are associated with remains. For this purpose, we conducted a 14-month-long blowfly survey at the Anthropology Research Facility (ARF) of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Traps baited with pork kidney were deployed for 24 h twice a month throughout the study. A total of 3180 adult blowflies were collected, comprising 13 species from 7 genera. Phormia regina (Meigen) and Lucilia coeruleiviridis (Macquart) were the predominant species collected from this survey, with collections representing 65.9% and 20.6%of total flies captured, respectively. In addition to relative abundance, we investigated blowfly community composition, species abundance, richness, and diversity by season. One state record was identified, with adult Protophormia terraenovae (Robineau-Desvoidy) being collected for the first time in Tennessee. Additionally, an earlier record of Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) in Tennessee was noted. These findings can be used to aid in legal investigations in the area and surrounding areas where work is limited, as well as to provide information on which forensically relevant species should be the subject of future research in the area.
... In the majority of forensic entomology casework, the most important insects for the entomologist to analyze is Calliphoridae (blow flies) (Sanford, 2017). These flies are ubiquitous in the environment, and with their strong flight and excellent odor detection capability, are usually the first insects to appear on carrion (Weidner et al., 2016). Species in the family Calliphoridae are the most active and abundant insects found in the early stages of decomposition, and as such often can provide the most information of all insect species on the PMI. ...
Forensic entomology is a continuously growing field at a global level. However, available information is dependent upon the area in which forensic entomologists are located. Some areas lack basic foundational information including species composition, both spatially and temporally, as well as developmental data. This series of articles includes a comprehensive review of forensic entomological literature across the United States. Each article focuses on a specific geographic region of the United States, with a state level analysis, exposing areas that are currently lacking information related to forensically relevant insects. Using publications from the 1800s to June 2020, a total of 710 publications were found.
This article is categorized under: Forensic Biology > Non‐Human DNA Profiling
Forensic Anthropology > Time Since Death Estimation
Crime Scene Investigation > Crime Scene Examination
Forensic Biology > Forensic Entomology
... Thus, is it not surprising that some experiments in forensic entomology reveal that flies will colonize remains at night, in at least some conditions (such as under a street light) and others do not (Greenberg 1990;Singh & Bharti 2001;Baldridge et al. 2006;Zurawski et al. 2009;Barnes et al. 2015;Bostock et al. 2017). Recently, it has also been shown that flies may walk to remains at night (Weidner et al. 2016) and experiments with low light in Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) confirmed the probability of such field observations in controlled conditions (Smith et al. 2016). A violation of the assumption of no nocturnal oviposition can alter insect age estimates in cases where the predicted time of oviposition occurs by assuming that the progeny cannot have started development on remains at night. ...
... kg each were used in this study. All of them were killed by 10.0-15.0 ml Dolethal intravenously near the ear region at Animal Unit of Institute of Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur in the evening whenever blow ly was inactive during nocturnal condition [29,30]. After that, all the carcasses were put into the boxes and wrapped with plastic bags while waiting to be transferred to study site at National Institute of Forensic Medicine, Hospital Kuala Lumpur. ...
... kg each were used in this study. All of them were killed by 10.0-15.0 ml Dolethal intravenously near the ear region at Animal Unit of Institute of Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur in the evening whenever blow ly was inactive during nocturnal condition [29,30]. After that, all the carcasses were put into the boxes and wrapped with plastic bags while waiting to be transferred to study site at National Institute of Forensic Medicine, Hospital Kuala Lumpur. ...
Lucilia silvarum Meigen (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is widespread throughout North America and Europe. Described in 1826, this blow fly was quickly associated with myiasis in amphibians, and to date has rarely been reported in carrion. There is limited data regarding the time of colonization of animals with fur and the interpretation of this data is difficult due to variation in the animal models used. During an examination of initial insect colonization of cats (Felis catus) with light and dark fur, twelve domestic short-haired cats were placed in cages 15.2 m apart in a grassy field in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA. Eggs from initial oviposition events were collected and reared to identify the colonizing species. Three species of Lucilia (Diptera: Calliphoridae), including L. silvarum, colonized the cats on the initial day of placement. In this study, L. silvarum was the primary colonizer of cats, and this may be the first study where a large number of L. silvarum were collected. Further studies should include development studies on L. silvarum to understand its life history and aid in time of colonization estimations. More work regarding the colonization of furred mammals is needed to further examine L. silvarum as a primary colonizer.
A comprehensive review of forensic entomology literature in the northeastern portion of the United States was conducted searching the earliest possible publication date through early 2020. Thirteen states and the capital were included in this region and yielded 172 publications. As a region, the main areas of the publications were arrival and decomposition, myiasis, and papers yielding information pertaining to biodiversity. However, there was a large fluctuation in total publications by state with Maryland producing over 30 publications, and Delaware and Vermont each producing one. Within this region only 15 publications from seven states were found concerning development, showing a severe deficiency in this category. Additional work is needed in this geographic area of the United States in most categories of work related to forensic entomology research.
This article is categorized under: Forensic Biology > Interpretation of Biological Evidence
Forensic Anthropology > Time Since Death Estimation
Crime Scene Investigation > Crime Scene Examination
In order to investigate the impact of confinement in a car trunk on decomposition and insect colonization of carcasses, three freshly killed pig (Sus scrofa domesticus Erxleben) carcasses were placed individually in the trunks of older model cars and deployed in a forested area in the southwestern region of British Columbia, Canada, together with three freshly killed carcasses which were exposed in insect-accessible protective cages in the same forest. Decomposition rate and insect colonization of all carcasses were examined twice a week for four weeks. The exposed carcasses were colonized immediately by Calliphora latifrons Hough and Calliphora vomitoria (L.) followed by Lucilia illustris (Meigen), Phormia regina (Meigen) and Protophormia terraenovae (R.-D.) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). There was a delay of three to six days before the confined carcasses were colonized, first by P. regina, followed by Pr. terraenovae. These species represented the vast majority of blow fly species on the confined carcasses. Despite the delay in colonization, decomposition progressed much more rapidly in two of the confined carcasses in comparison with the exposed carcasses due to the greatly increased temperatures inside the vehicles, with the complete skeletonization of two of the confined carcasses ocurring between nine and 13 days after death. One confined carcass was an anomaly, attracting much fewer insects, supporting fewer larval calliphorids and decomposing much more slowly than other carcasses, despite similarly increased temperatures. It was later discovered that the vehicle in which this carcass was confined had a solid metal fire wall between the passenger area and the trunk, which served to reduce insect access and release of odors. These data may be extremely valuable when analyzing cadavers found inside vehicle trunks.
