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Time of Death and Changes After Death, Part 3: Forensic Entomology (From Medicolegal Investigation of Death: Guidelines for the Application of Pathology to Crime Investigation, Fourth Edition, P 149-173, 2006, Werner U. Spitz and Daniel J. Spitz, eds. -- See NCJ-214126)

NCJ Number
214132
Author(s)
Neil H. Haskell
Date Published
2006
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This chapter explains how forensic entomology--application of the study of insects and their arthropod relatives in legal proceedings--can be used to determine the time of death, the geographic location where death occurred, areas of trauma on the remains, and the identification of chemicals or drugs in the body before or at the time of death.
Abstract
The use of a specific insect species' known growth and development for stages of its life cycle is the most precise method of estimating the time of death. The blowfly is the most common insect used to make this determination. The chapter describes the typical blowfly life cycle. Also, when a body is found in a location other than where death occurred, insects distinctive to the area where death occurred may be on the body, providing a clue to the location. The analysis of insect colonization on a body can assist in identifying areas of trauma on the body. When decomposition is advanced and all evidence of external trauma is destroyed, maggot colonization sites can provide clues as to whether the soft or open areas where caused by trauma prior to death. When environmental conditions are favorable, hundreds of blowflies may be attracted in minutes to wound sites and the body organs thus exposed. Also, studies have shown that insect adults and larvae can be used to determine when chemical compounds are present in tissues. The drugs or chemicals are ingested by the adult or larval specimen and then deposited into fat bodies within the insect or the protein of the exoskeleton. This chapter also advises that postmortem insect damage to the body can resemble wounds prior to death. The chapter concludes with a detailed description of collection procedures, visual observations of insect activity at the scene, and the collection of climate data. 11 figures, 1 table, and 70 references