Importance Of Forensic Entomology

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1. Introduction
Forensic entomology has profound utility in contemporary time. Insects and their arthropod counterparts are used in the legal investigations to aid the forensic analysis of decomposing materials (Mumcouglu et al., 2004). It is used by criminal investigators to try to solve homicide cases by attempting to reconstruct the crime scene and establish the cause of death. In addition to human death investigations, it can be used to determine the death of animals and other wildlife crimes (Anderson, 1999). The increasing use of insects or arthropods as an aid in forensic investigation lies in their behaviour. Most of them are known to be attracted to decomposing bodies and lay their eggs in it. Thus, they can provide accurate leads on the post-mortem interval, the cause of death and also vital information on the corpse position, such as whether the dead body has been relocated to another scene in order to mislead the investigator (Gennard, 2012).
2. Insects of Forensic Importance …show more content…

In cases where there is a suspect, it is applied to find the associations between the victim and the suspect, as well as to assist in the collection of DNA samples. The insects that have forensic importance among others includes various types of Flies (order Diptera) and beetles (order Coleoptera). For examples, Blow Flies (Family Calliphoridae), Holarctic Blue Bow Flies (Calliphora vomitoria), Oriential Latrine Flies (Chrysomya megacephala), Carrion beetles, Rove beetles, Hide Beetles and Sap beetles (Byrd & Castner, 2001; Norm, 1971). When carrying out a forensic entomology analysis, proper species identification is a crucial aspect, as it enables the development of accurate data and distribution ranges which will be used in the investigation (Payne & Manson,

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