Module 6 - Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Entomology (Bones & Bugs)

Defining Forensic Entomology

Forensic entomology is the application of knowledge about insect infestation to the decomposition of human remains from a crime scene. Forensic entomology is a useful technique that can help to determine the time of death, whether the corpse was moved after death, and even the cause of death.

Insects play an important role in our environment because they help to recycle organic matter. Insects consume and decompose dead animals including other insects, dead plant matter, and organism waste (such as feces and urine).

Regardless of the environment, the weather conditions, or the landscape, insects will infest and consume any type of dead organism including humans. Thus, insects are considered carrion feeders, organisms that consume dead organisms. Interestingly, forensic entomologists have found that different insect species infest and colonize a dead body at predictable rates and in predictable sequential order. This process is known as insect succession.

Insect succession upon dead remains occurs in a predictable fashion because different insects thrive on different parts of the body. For example, flies prefer to feed upon fresh moist body tissue while some beetles feed only upon flesh near bone. Consequently, these beetles tend to colonize a dead body much later than flies because bone is normally exposed after several days or more of decomposition. Other beetle species consume mainly blowfly eggs, so they are not found until after blowflies have laid their eggs upon a body. These observations about insect feeding habits help forensic entomologists estimate how long human remains have been left in a particular environment.