#40 Creepy Crawlies: Intro to Forensic Entomology II

Aiza Jamil
Feb 2
3 min read

Hello, and welcome back, folks, to another episode of STEM on the Streets! If you are new here, my name is Aiza, and this is my partner, CAI (crime AI). Together, we stroll through the criminal-ridden streets of STEM!

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Subfields of Forensic Entomology

If you recall from the last episode, we discussed forensic entomology, which is the science of bugs used in the legal and crime-solving process. Like many fields, forensic entomology has sub-fields, which we mentioned in the previous episode and will dive further into in this episode.

Medico-Legal Forensic Entomology: This is perhaps the first thing someone would think of when it comes to forensic entomology, as this subfield is mostly related to murder and death. Medico-legal forensic entomology primarily deals with determining the PMI (post-mortem interval) by using insect evidence found on human remains. It is commonly used in homicide or unusual death cases.

Urban Forensic Entomology: This subfield involves insects that affect humans in residential or built environments. This includes pest infestations, neglect cases, and civil disputes.
Stored Product Forensic Entomology: Last but not least, stored product forensic entomology focuses on insects found in stored food products. It is often used in legal cases involving food contamination and commercial disputes.

Techniques Used in Forensic Entomology

Even though forensic entomology feels like experts just go around collecting bugs in jars, there are many techniques and procedures used in the field.

Investigators often need to identify insect species as they colonize a decomposing body at different stages; being able to identify the species of insect can give an estimated time of death. Then there is a life cycle analysis, which is when investigators examine the stages of development (egg, larva, pupa, adult). This can help estimate how long the species of insect has been present; this also aids in estimating PMI. Then there is a rather interesting one: entomotoxicology. If body cases are too decomposed for traditional toxicology testing, larvae feeding on the body can sometimes be analysed for the presence of drugs or toxins.

Brief Case Applications

In the last episode, we had briefly mentioned the first case of entomology being used in the aspects of solving murder, which was in 13th century china. What had happened was that a farmer had been murdered with a sharp object. Other suspects were called and told to bring forth their sickles, now, because of the minuscule amounts of blood, which cannot be seen without a microscope, blow flies were attracted to one sickle. This allowed them to determine who the murderer of the farmer was.

Then there was another case in 1855, in France, known as the Bergeret Case. In this case, there was a dead body found in a Paris home. Insect evidence was found in a mummified infant’s remains and helped determine that death had occurred years earlier than suspected. Now, because of this new piece of information, it was easily ruled out that the current tenants of the apartment where the body was found could not have been the murderers of the child, leading to the arrest of the previous tenants.

Well, that is all for today, lovely people! Next blog, we’ll be diving further into the world of forensic entomology.

This is Aiza Jamil signing out!

I am a forensics sleuth. What's your mystery to solve?