Forensic Entomology Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts in forensic entomology.

Forensic Entomology

The legal application of the study of arthropods.

Arthropods

Invertebrate animals with jointed legs, including insects, arachnids, centipedes, millipedes, and crustaceans.

Urban Entomology

Deals with arthropod problems in human environments such as cockroaches, termites, and issues in cattle & poultry feed houses.

Stored Product Entomology

Focuses on arthropods found in food and other stored products, including restaurant contamination.

Medicocriminal Entomology

Involves arthropod evidence in crime, particularly violent crime.

Postmortem Interval (PMI)

Time since death, often determined by forensic entomologists.

• in forensic entomology they are asked for PMI & where did the death occur

Insects

The most numerous and diverse group on the planet, characterized by six legs and a body divided into the head, thorax, and abdomen. Found in all terrestial habitats and aquatic (not salt water)

Insect Lifecycle

Passes through four distinct stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

• Note:

  • appearance of these stages and the time spent in each varies with the species and environmental factors.

  • accurate climate data is key. temp. increases so does the development rate.

Flies

An important scavenger removing decomposing plant and animal material from the environment; there are over 16,000 species in North America.

Common Flies

House fly, Blow fly, Horse fly

• most flies connected with corpses have spongelike mouthparts

Maggots

Young flies that hatch from eggs and pass through three stages before pupating.

Puparium

The hardened, shrunken skin of a mature maggot in which it pupates, varying in color from brown to black.

Beetles

Larva are called grubs. Can skeletonize a body in under a month Will move away from light and hide in recesses or cavities . Over 30,000 species in North America.

Dermestid Beetles of forensic importance

Forensic importance includes Larder beetles, Carpet beetles, and Hide beetles.

Frass

Beetle excrement; its presence is proof they have fed heavily on tissues and can indicate a considerable time lapse since death.

Blow Flies

Are the first colonizers of a body after death and can be attracted by odors from great distances.

Maggot Mass

A large group of maggots that can break down a body faster and generate their own heat.

Insect Colonization Factors

Biogeoclimatic zone, geographic location, and season impact insect colonization.

Factors Used to Evaluate PMI

Species characteristics, weather and seasonality, food type, drugs and other toxins, geographic region