ETX 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Frass, Entomology, Forceps
1 Jul 2016
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Basic biology: how and where an organism lives, why it does what it does. Provides ecological associations relating persons and places. Provides record of the source or travel history of evidence. Species name: link to biology and life history facts. Care to not alter state of remains (evidence) Collect as many as possible, all kinds and stages -- eggs through adults. Problematic: some insects small, fast or jump, i. e. cheese skipper fly larvae. Pre-death parasite infestations- e. g. lice & nits. Check under edges of carpet- baseboards, room corners, baseboard cracks. Label in pencil or pigma drafting pen ink. Case number, date, collector, location on remains. Some powerful assumptions in period of infestation estimation. Colonization takes place immediately upon insect arrival. Development of a given species follows a predictable pattern. Colonization by different insects follows predictable pattern. Samples of insects collected represent species and stages present. Forensic entomologists estimate time of death with. Insect evidence precisely predicts period since death precision.
