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It is all about the insects: a retrospective on 20 years of forensic entomology highlights the importance of insects in legal investigations
- Source :
- International Journal of Legal Medicine
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2021.
-
Abstract
- This study highlights the importance of insect evidence by evaluating 949 insect-associated cases, including 139 entomological reports, from 2001 to 2019 at the Institute of Legal Medicine Frankfurt/Germany. With a high number of cases in the summer months and a low number in the colder season, 78.5% of the bodies were found indoors, regardless of year or month. In more than 80% of the cases, where PMI information was available (n = 704), the presumed PMI ranged from 1 to 21 days, a period during which entomological evidence can provide a day-specific estimate of PMImin. In cases where insects have been identified to species level (n = 279), most bodies were infested by one or two species with a maximum of 10 different species. Overall, a total of 55 insect species were found. Information on biology, activity and distribution of the most abundant taxa is given and applied for 5 case histories estimating different PMImins of up to over 6 months. Despite proved importance and scientific development of forensic entomology, insects are still rarely considered as a tool in forensic case work. The main reasons are a lack of awareness and (too) late involvement of a forensic entomologist. Our work shows that forensic entomology is an independent discipline that requires specialist expertise.
- Subjects :
- Forensic Entomology
medicine.medical_specialty
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
Insecta
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
Medical jurisprudence
Pathology and Forensic Medicine
Blow flies
Forensic science
Myiasis
Postmortem interval
Taxon
Geography
Negligence
Species level
Scientific development
Cadaver
medicine
Animals
Humans
Original Article
Forensic entomology
Legal medicine
Retrospective Studies
Demography
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14371596 and 09379827
- Volume :
- 135
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Legal Medicine
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....5c8ac3f3d55c3d816e23dc97ac9b7155