Chapter 17: Forensic Entomology Check Access

Forensic entomology is a valuable tool and potentially the only means of identifying the post-mortem interval of a dead human or animal, when time of death determination is beyond the time frame in which the forensic pathologist can operate. It can provide a means of determining the time since infestation of a product or location where food contamination or nuisance is alleged as well as in cases of murder or suicide. Forensic entomology can additionally help provide a means of determining the length of time an individual, human or animal has been neglected or abused and as a result is infested with evidence of insects, mites, lice, or ticks. The insect, or indeed, arthropod life cycle, and its ecology combined with knowledge of how environmental conditions influence insect growth, provides information which allows evidential interpretation of crimes – both civil and criminal. Flies are the most frequent initial coloniser, especially where the body has been left or hidden on land. It is their life cycles which have been most comprehensively researched by forensic entomologists. Recent studies have focussed on differences in fly ecology due to geography and also the development of new identification techniques. Such developments, together with attempts to refine the current methods used to determine the post-mortem interval and reduce levels of error relative to the actual time of death, have increased the range of arthropods besides flies used to solve crimes and have provided further insights into determining time of death of an individual.