Forensic Entomology

O conhecimento do intervalo post-mortem (IPM) e extremamente importante em investigacoes de assassinatos e outros crimes. IPM depende de muitos fatores, como umidade, pluviosidade e especialmente temperatura. Especies de Ophyra Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 sao encontradas em corpos em decomposicao, usualmente nas fases fresca, incha e murcha. Entre estas especies, Ophyra albuquerquei Lopes, 1985 pode ser encontrada em carcacas de ratos e coelhos. A influencia de fatores ambientais sobre pupas de O. albuquerque nao tinha sido avaliada ate o momento. Desta maneira, o foco deste trabalho foi motivado pela necessidade por modelos de previsao do desenvolvimento de insetos necrofagos em funcao de fatores abioticos e de estimativas de IPMs mais confiaveis, bem como, verificacao da exigencia de disponibilidade termica representada pelo grau dia acumulado (GDA) de pupas de O. albuquerquei. Colonias de O. albuquerquei foram mantidas em laboratorio para a obtencao de pupas. Ate o decimo dia de cada...

Animals have evolved several chemosensory systems for detecting potentially dangerous foods in the environment. Activation of specific sensory cells within these chemosensory systems usually elicits an aversive behavioral response, leading to avoidance of the noxious foods. Blowflies respond to sugars, salts and water through the activation of specific chemoreceptor neurons in the antennal, labellar and tarsal chemosensillae. These insects also detect deterrent stimuli with the so called fifth or deterrent cell. Using forensically important flies (blowflies) as a model organism, the question was if these flies have the ability to detect the nutritional value of corpses when injected with different doses of morphine. In the attempt to gain information on the mechanisms underlying reception of noxious and repellent compounds, electrophysiological and behavioral experiments have been performed to confirm the hypothesis that morphine sulfate has a repellent effect on fly attraction to c...

The muscid Hydrotaea cyrtoneurina (ZETTERSTEDT, 1845) is a Palaearctic species whose adults are known for their forensic importance. The third instar larva morphology of H. cyrtoneurina, hitherto unknown, is described herein with the application of light and scanning electron microscopy. The characters of larval morphology enabling this species to be distinguished from other forensically important third instar larvae of Muscidae are discussed as well. Some details of the cephaloskeleton are discussed, and modifications in terminology are proposed based on the literature data and the results of this study.

Relying on morphology in the estimation of postmortem intervalsis not always accurate for all life phases of flies, especially for immature stages. The present study demonstrates the application of cytochrome oxidase I sequences, a partial mitochondrial (mt) gene region, to differentiate forensically important fliesinAlexandria, Egypt. Thirty‑three adult flies, larvae, and pupae were collected from rabbit carcasses. Nineteen were used for genotyping. Sequence analysis revealed no significant intraspecific divergence in Diptera species. Accordingly, a neighbor-joining tree using the Kimura 2‑parameter model illustrated reciprocal morphology between species. Specimens represented five species, four genera, foursubfamilies, two families, and one order. We herein identify five different Diptera species, Chrysomya albiceps, Chrysomya megacephala, Calliphora vicina, Lucilia sericata, and Ophyra capensis, using mt DNAas a species‑specific marker for identification in a local database set‑up.

ABSTRACT The development of the Oriental latrine fly, Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius), and hairy maggot blowfly, C. rufifacies (Macquart) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), was studied at four different temperatures (22°C, 25°C, 29°C and 31°C) in order to draw correlations between larval age, body length and body dry weight. The mean larval body length increased steadily from a minimum of 1.4 mm for C. megacephala and 1.8 mm for C. rufifacies to a maximum of 17.4 mm for C. megacephala and 15.9 mm for C. rufifacies at different temperatures. Similarly, the mean dry weight increased steadily from a minimum of 0.0007 g for C. megacephala (second instar) and 0.0008 g for C. rufifacies (second instar) to a maximum of 0.0290 g for C. megacephala and 0.0270 g for C. rufifacies at different temperatures. Entomological evidence is often used to estimate the minimum postmortem interval (mPMI) and both of these species are important from a forensic point of view. Graphs of age of larvae vs. body length and age of larvae vs. dry body weight at different temperatures can be used to estimate the larval age of these two species.

Members of several insect orders are known to modify osseous vertebrate remains postmortem, whether for nutritional or habitational purposes. Recognizing the appearance of these taphonomic traces is important in the evaluation of skeletal remains recov- ered from forensic and archaeological contexts. Thus far, ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) have only been anecdotally noted in the litera- ture to modify bone as a presumed food resource and have not yet been shown to modify human bone. This paper presents a contemporary case where a colony of ants was directly observed nesting inside human bone and describes the appearance of modi ed entrances into their repurposed medullary cavity dwellings. This case may prompt further considerations of ants as agents of bone modi cation, how and why such behaviors occur, and how to recognize these ichnological traces.

This work presents three case studies, in which estimates of the postmortem interval (PMI) were based on the concept of accumulated degree-days (ADD). In two cases, the PMI estimates based on the biology of Chrysomya megacephala (Fabr.) and Cochliomyia macellaria (Wied.) were close to that obtained by other investigation means. In the third case, based on C. megacephala, the PMI estimate greatly differed from the real interval, which is considered to be caused by restricted access of sarcophagous insects to the body.

Keywords: Myiasis is a pathological condition caused by the larval infestation in human or animal tissues. It is caused by the larvae of dipteran flies which are cosmopolitan in distribution. It occurs frequently in tropical countries and developed due to poor hygienic conditions. In human beings, the most commonly affected sites are the skin, mouth, ears, eyes, nose, anus and vagina. The diagnosis of the disease includes examining the larvae in the wounds and lesions. Pain and irritation in the affected body parts are the general complaints by the patients. The treatment is generally carried out by local disinfection and removal of larvae from the affected area. Effective fly control measures and good hygienic conditions should be adopted to control the disease. Insect life cycle stages found on the body and crime scene may be used in the estimation of post-mortem intervals (time since death) in forensic investigations. Insect evidence can also be used in the conditions of myiasis in living beings. Neglect or cruelty results in the untreated wound, and accumulation of faeces or urine, therefore attract the flies to oviposit. These eggs, larvae, etc. can be collected from the wound and presented in the court of law. A forensic entomologist can determine the minimum time since abuse or the duration of neglect by estimating the temperature, species, and age of the insect. Dipteran flies, Forensic entomology, Insects, Myiasis.

Animals have evolved several chemosensory systems for detecting potentially dangerous foods in the environment. Activation of specific sensory cells within these chemosensory systems usually elicits an aversive behavioral response, leading to avoidance of the noxious foods. Blowflies respond to sugars, salts and water through the activation of specific chemoreceptor neurons in the antennal, labellar and tarsal chemosensillae. These insects also detect deterrent stimuli with the so called fifth or deterrent cell. Using forensically important flies (blowflies) as a model organism, the question was if these flies have the ability to detect the nutritional value of corpses when injected with different doses of morphine. In the attempt to gain information on the mechanisms underlying reception of noxious and repellent compounds, electrophysiological and behavioral experiments have been performed to confirm the hypothesis that morphine sulfate has a repellent effect on fly attraction to corpse. Electrophysiological and behavioral results indicate that morphine sulfate activate the fifth cell in the chemosensillae. In field behavioral test, carrions injected with doses of morphine sulfate, are colonized later with flies than morphine-free carrions. This finding is in accordance with the spike frequency elevation observed for the fifth cell activity. The prevailing activation of the deterrent cell by morphine sulfate is directly coupled with a coherent behavioral output. Therefore, comparison of behavioral and electrophysiological data, affirm that blowfly identify morphine sulfate as a deterrent stimuli by activation of the fifth cell.

In the case of many forensically important insects an interval preceding appearance of an insect stage on a corpse (called the pre-appearance interval or PAI) is strongly temperature-dependent. Accordingly, it was proposed to estimate PAI from temperature by using temperature models for PAI of particular insect species and temperature data specific for a given case. The quality of temperature models for PAI depends on the protocols for PAI field studies. In this article we analyze effects of sampling frequency and techniques, temperature data, as well as the size of a sample on the quality of PAI models. Models were created by using data from a largely replicated PAI field study, and their performance in estimation was tested with external body of PAI data. It was found that low frequency of insect sampling distinctly deteriorated temperature models for PAI. The effect of sampling techniques was clearly smaller. Temperature data from local weather station gave models of poor quality, however their retrospective correction clearly improved the models. Most importantly, current results demonstrate that sample size in PAI field studies may be substantially reduced, with no model deterioration. Samples consisting of 11–14 carcasses gave models of high quality, as long as the whole range of relevant temperatures was studied. Moreover, it was found that carcasses exposed in forests and carcasses exposed in early spring are particularly important, as they ensure that PAI data is collected at low temperatures. A preliminary best practice model for PAI field studies is given.

At the end of summer and beginning of fall 2005 insect succession and pig carrion decomposition were studied in pine-oak forest, hornbeam-oak forest, and alder forest in Western Poland (Central Europe). Five stages of decomposition were recognized: fresh stage, bloated stage, active decay stage, advanced decay stage, and remains stage. The highest rate of decomposition was observed in the alder

The blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) comprise a group of medical and forensic importance because some species are responsible for myiasis and immature stages of several species feed on corpses and show preference for certain stages of decomposition. In both cases, the correct taxonomic determination is a crucial aspect for a medical or forensic investigation. The geometric morphometrics is a recent tool that describes the shape variation, although this technique has been used in adult blowfly, it has not been evaluated in immature. The goal of this study was to analyze the variations on cephalopharyngeal morphometrics, to support the identification of forensic immature flies. For this we photographed a total of 101 cephalopharyngeal skeletons from Chrysomya albiceps (n=34), C. megacephala (n=34) and Lucilia cuprina (n=33). Landmark coordinate (x, y) configurations were registered and aligned by Generalized Procrustes Analysis. Canonical Variates Analysis (CVA) were implemented with proportions of re-classified groups and MANOVA. Statistical analysis of variance found significant differences in centroid size (Kruskal-Wallis). The CVA showed significant separation, and a posteriori re-classification was 100% correctly assigned. The main differences between the three species were localized on: base of parastomal bar, apical tooth, clipeal arc, concavity of the pharyngeal sclerite, and union between hypostomal sclerite and the mouth hook. These differences could be useful as additional tools for larvae taxonomic identification; however, more studies are needed that include a more complete species representation in Calliphoridae.

Forensic Entomology is the scientific methods used by entomologist to calculate the time of an organism death through insect communities as a biological indicator. In the present study, insect fauna identification in dead dog, Canis domesticus (L.) has been used as in substitute of dead human body in tropical region Mardan, a tool for forensic entomology were carried out in five different decomposition stages, fresh, bloat, active decay, advanced decay and dry. The collected Diptera species were Chrysomya rufifacies, Chrysomya megacephala, Parasarcophaga ruficornis, Musca domestica and Piophila casei. Chrysomya rufifacies was first arrived to dog carcass and dominated first stages of decomposition. The average temperature (28.3±1.8-40.4±1.7) was found affected Diptera fauna and rate of decomposition of C. domesticus during the observation period for (11 days from 15 to 25 May 2011). This research will be helpful for forensic entomologist for a case study of death to investigate of c...

In Côte d'Ivoire, necrophagous insects have since 2008, begun to arouse a keen interest among researchers. After the first works by Adou (2014), on the anthropological aspects, of the colonization of a monkey corpse by insects, others followed between 2015 and 2016. Indeed, Koffi et al. (2017a, 2017b) were able to demonstrate, using open-air pig carcasses, a well-defined process of corpse colonization by necrophagous insects, and the contribution of these last to cadaverous weight loss. But the identification of these insects stopped at the taxonomic level of the family. This is the reason why the purpose of this work was to make a specific inventory of the necrophagous insects involved in the decomposition process of an open-air pig carcass in the southern forest zone of Côte d'Ivoire. To do this, 3 series of experiments were carried out on 3 ecologically identical sites in the city of Abidjan, between August 19, 2015 and September 22, 2016. Trapping devices, adapted to various groups of insects, and using whole corpses of pig as bait, have been set up on the CNRA () sites. At the end of the work carried out, the species harvested and identified were divided into the 2 main orders of Diptera and Coleoptera. Fifteen species of Diptera were grouped into 5 families: Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, Muscidae, Piophilidae and Stratiomyidae. Among the Calliphoridae whose species are used for post mortem dating, the most abundant was Chrysomya albiceps with a rate varying between 7.45 and 13.38% of the average size. The Coleoptera were represented by 6 families, namely Cleridae, Histeridae, Dermestidae, Tenebrionidae, Trogiidae and Scarabaeidae. Necrobia rufipes, which belongs to the family Cleridae, was the most abundant species with a rate ranging from 55.89 to 59.99% of the average number of Coleoptera species harvested. Analysis of the ecological index of biodiversity showed a higher Richness, Shannon's Index and Equitability in "fresh cadaver" (H '= 1.73-E = 0.83) and "swelling/active decomposition" stages (H = 2.37-E = 0.82). The high values of the Richness and Shannon's Index for these stages of decomposition, have reflected the cohabitation of many species present in small numbers. In addition, the high values of Equitability in "fresh cadaver" and "swelling/active decomposition" stages have shown a fair distribution of species within the corpse ecosystem. Finally, in the framework of an entomological expertise to date deaths, this inventory work of the necrophagous entomological fauna, made it possible to highlight, the effective presence, throughout the year, species of Diptera of the family Calliphoridae, which are mainly used for the estimation of a short post mortem interval, since these last are the first to colonize a cadaver exposed to the open air in the southern forest area of Côte d'Ivoire (Koffi et al., 2017a).

Forensic entomology establishes the postmortem interval (PMI) by studying cadaveric fauna. The PMI today is still largely based on tables of insect succession on human cadavers compiled in the late 19th- or mid-20th centuries. In the last few years, however, the gradual warming of the climate has been changing faunal communities by favouring the presence of thermophilous species. To demonstrate how globalisation and climate change are overcoming geographic barriers, we present some cases of southern and allochthonous species found in north-east Italy during our entomo-forensic investigations.

The first case of application of forensic entomology in the Brazilian Amazonia is described. The corpses of 26 men were found in the rainforest in Rondonia State, Brazil. Fly larvae collected on the bodies during autopsy were identified as Paralucilia fulvinota (Diptera, Calliphoridae). No data or specimens were collected at the crime scene. At the laboratory, the larvae developed into pupae in 58 h and into adults in 110.5 h. The total development time for P. fulvinota was measured in field experiments inside the forest. The age of the larvae when collected from the bodies was estimated as the difference between the time required for them to become adults and the total development time for this species. The estimated age of the maggots and the minimum postmortem interval was 5.7 days.

The Muscidae is one of the main dipteran families recognized as important for medico-legal purposes. Although an association of adult flies with decomposing human and animal bodies is documented for about 200 taxa worldwide, cadavers and carrion represents a breeding habitat for considerably fewer species. Species that do colonize dead human bodies can do so under diverse environmental conditions and, under certain circumstances, Muscidae may be the only colonizers of a body. Because of difficulties in identification, many studies have identified immature and/or adult muscids only to the genus or family level. This lack of detailed species-level identifications hinders detailed investigation of their medico-legal usefulness in carrion succession-oriented experiments. Identification to species level of third instars of Muscidae of forensic importance and the utility of larval morphological characters for taxonomic purposes were subjected to an in-depth revision. A combination of characters allowing for the discrimination of third instar muscids from other forensically important dipterans is proposed. An identification key for third instar larvae, which covers the full set of cadaver-colonising species of Muscidae from the western Palaearctic (Europe, North Africa, Middle East), is provided. This key will facilitate more detailed and species-specific knowledge of the occurrence of Muscidae in forensic entomology experiments and real cases. The carrion-visiting Muscidae worldwide are catalogued, and those species breeding in animal carrion and dead human bodies are briefly discussed with regard to their forensic importance.

Le Service régional de l’archéologie du Centre (Ministère de la Culture ; Orléans) a diligenté en 2004 une mission d’expertise des investigations menées dans l’église Notre-Dame de Cléry-Saint-André (Loiret), en particulier sur le caveau royal de Louis XI. Si une étude documentaire préalable a permis de retrouver des documents inédits et des comptes-rendus d’anciennes fouilles archéologiques, il s’agissait surtout de mener une analyse des ossements humains. La confrontation des sources historique et des analyses paléobiologiques ont mis en évidence dans le grand sarcophage du caveau royal l’apport, à la fin du XIXe s., d’ossements étrangers aux squelettes attribués à Louis XI et à Charlotte de Savoie. Les os épars ne correspondant sans doute pas à l’image qu’on pouvait se faire d’un tombeau aussi prestigieux, les os déposés ont alors été disposés de manière à révéler des corps, tandis que les autres, initialement présents dans le sarcophage, ont été isolés.
Cette étude démontre que, malgré ce qui a été écrit encore très récemment, des os de Louis XI et/ou de Charlotte de Savoie sont encore vraisemblablement présents.
Ce travail est enfin l’occasion d’aborder la question de préparation des corps des grands du royaume à la fin du Moyen Age. Les traces sur les os permettent de déterminer la façon dont les dépouilles ont été embaumées : prélèvement de tout ou partie des viscères, exérèse particulière du cœur, application de produits etc.

Patrice GEORGES-ZIMMERMANN est archéo-anthropologue à l’Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap) et membre de l’UMR 5608 du CNRS TRACES « Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés » (équipes Pôle Afrique et Terrae).  A ce titre, ces recherches portent principalement sur les pratiques funéraires, en France comme à l’étranger.
Patrice GEORGES-ZIMMERMANN dirige la collection « Mourir à travers les siècles » aux Editions L’Harmattan.

Introduction.
La compréhension du processus de décomposition cadavérique est importante pour la détermination du délai post mortem. Le but de cette étude est de décrire les différentes étapes de la décomposition de cadavres de porc en zone guinéenne de Côte d’Ivoire et de déterminer la durée moyenne de leur squelettisation complète.
Méthodes.
Il s’agit d’une étude descriptive et prospective qui a consisté à décrire les modifications physiques de 6 cadavres de porc dont 3 porcs témoins nommés PT (placés dans des grilles non accessibles aux insectes nécrophages) et 3 porcs exposés aux insectes nécrophages nommés PE (placés dans des grilles à grandes mailles accessibles aux insectes nécrophages), disposés à l’air libre sur 3 sites différents dans la ville d’Abidjan. Les données de température ambiante et d’hygrométrie sont obtenues à l’aide d’un enregistreur thermohygromètre tandis que celles de pluviométrie et d’insolation sont fournies par la Société d’Exploitation et de Développement Aéroportuaire, Aéronautique et Météorologique (SODEXAM)-Abidjan.
Résultats.
Durant l’étude, la température ambiante oscille entre 25,1°C et 27,9°C. L’humidité relative est en moyenne de 85,2 ± 1,5 % (extrêmes :  83 – 88). Une saison hebdomadaire pluvieuse est enregistrée à la 2ème semaine, avec une pluviométrie totale de 255,4 mm de précipitations. L’insolation cumulée hebdomadaire oscille entre 882 et 3048 minutes.  Le processus de décomposition des trois PE se déroule en trois phases (gonflement, décomposition active et décomposition avancée). Quant aux trois PT, après le stade de gonflement, le processus se fait vers la momification.  La durée moyenne de la squelettisation des cadavres de porc exposés à l’air libre en milieu tropical africain varie entre 3 mois et 3 mois et demi. Conclusion.
Cette étude nous laisse supposer qu'un cadavre humain abandonné à l'air libre en zone guinéenne de Côte d'Ivoire,  pourrait se squelettiser au bout de 4 mois dans les mêmes conditions climatiques.

The taxonomic identification of fly species through wing geometry is a helpful tool for entomologists and officials involved in forensic research, who not necessarily require expertise on insect taxonomy. Members of the Muscidae family are relevant sources of evidence in forensic entomology; however, developing countries often lack experts in the taxonomical identification of essential species for the assessment of aspects such as the minimum postmortem interval (mPMI). Our study proposes a low-cost, fast, and technologically-accessible quantitative tool for the identification of Atherigona orientalis and Ophyra aenescens, associated with human corpses at advanced states of decomposition. We propose a tool that is based on the geometric variability observed in eight homologous landmarks on wing veins and the interpretation of morphometric estimates after a generalized Procrustes analysis. The use of a geometric approach for effective discrimination between Atherigona orientalis and Ophyra aenescens was supported by statistically significant differences in wing conformation and size. The evidence presented in this study shows that the analysis of geometric variability in the wing morphology of species of forensic relevance can contribute to simple and objective species identification. Geometric morphometrics is a simple and readily available tool for forensic science.

Współczesne zdobycze technologii i nauki umożliwiły rozwój entomologii sądowej na
szeroką skalę. Pozwala ona obecnie nie tylko szacować datę zgonu (post mortem intervallum), ale również wskazywać możliwe przyczyny śmierci denata. Następuje to dzięki analizie pośmiertnej aktywności owadów i ich stadiów larwalnych, które następnie poddaje się analizie toksykologicznej (entomotoksykologia) bądź bada je jako alternatywne źródło materiału DNA. Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie funkcjonujących i naukowo opisywanych metod badawczych entomologii sądowej, próba ustosunkowania się do jej głównych założeń przez przedstawienie wyników przeprowadzonego doświadczenia oraz wskazanie podstawowych mechanizmów zabezpieczania śladów entomologicznych jako praktycznej wskazówki dla kryminalistyków. Pracę zakończy odpowiedź na pytanie, czy ustalenia poczynione z zastosowaniem entomologii sądowej mogą stanowić wyłączne źródło decyzji organów powołanych do ścigania przestępstw.