Forensic entomology is the study of insects in relation to a deceased person, and has proven useful in the field of forensic science, due to the versatility in how these insects are analyzed. The defined life cycle of certain insects allows for the various stages of development to be used in determining time of death, whether the body has been moved, and many other elements of a crime (James, Nordby, 2005). Insects can be analyzed by their stage in the lifecycle, what region they come from, what they have ingested when feeding, etcetera. As useful as insects have proven in investigations, they also have the ability to contaminate crime scenes and cause problems for forensic investigators.
The most common insect used for identifying time of death in the field of forensic entomology is the blow fly, because they are most often the first insect to colonize the body (James, Nordby 2005). Blow flies arrive at a body within ten minutes of catching its scent and lay their eggs soon after (Shipman 2011). The average lifecycle of a blow fly is “16 to 35 days, depending on temperature and environmental conditions” and begins with the larval stage (Texas A&M). The larval stage itself is divided into first, second, and third instar stages (James, Nordby 2005). A first instar larvae are weak and lack the mouthparts necessary to break skin, so the female blow fly will deposit her eggs near an open wound or the natural orifices of the body, where the larvae can feed on the liquids present (James, Nordby 2005). Second instar larvae are stronger, larger, and have special proteolytic enzymes they use to enter the body (James, Nordby 2005). Proteolytic enzymes are “any of a group of enzymes that break the long chainlike molecules of proteins into sh...
... middle of paper ...
...., & Nordby, J. J. (2005). Forensic science: An introduction to scientific and investigative techniques. (2nd ed., pp. 138-143, 143-144). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
North Carolina State University. (2013). Blow flies. Retrieved from http://ipm.ncsu.edu/ag369/notes/blow_flies.html Shipman, M. (2011, 11 01). Digging up clues: Research on buried blow flies will help crime scene investigators. Retrieved from http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wmswatsonblowfly/
Shipman, M. (Photographer) (2011). Digging up clues: Research on buried blow flies will help crime scene investigators [Print]. Available from http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wmswatsonblowfly/ Sparks, D., Oeltgen, P., Kryscio, R., & Hunsaker, J. (1989). Comparison of chemical methods for determining postmortem interval. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 34(1), 197-206.
Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2918279
Since the airing of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and the other televised series that followed have led jurors to compare fiction with reality. The shows have changed the view on the real world of forensic science as the series have a world of forensic science of their own. For this paper the televised series titled Bones by forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs will be used as an example for comparison. In the series Bones Dr. Temperance Brenan arrives at the scene of the crime to examine the skeletal remains found in the scene of the crime equipped with one or more forensic kits. Upon momentarily examining the skeletal remains Dr. Brenan is able to determine the gender, ethnicity, and age. When this type of scenario is compared to nonfictional
Forensic Science Introduction: Someone in a restaurant has suddenly fallen ill and a mystery powder has been discovered with the victim. As the chief investigator, your duty is to identify the mystery substance through a lab. In this lab, it will consist of five known compounds and one unknown compound. Your job is to distinguish which one out of the five substances is the mystery powder. To figure out the mystery matter you will have to compare their physical and chemical properties and match them with the appropriate compound.
To conduct the experiment, the beetles were massed, then attached to a petri dish with a 30 centimeter piece of dental floss. The beetle’s mass was the independent variable. Afterwards, the floss was tied to the beetle’s midsection with a slip knot. Then, the beetle was placed on a piece of fabric with the petri dish attached to it. As soon as the beetle was able to move with one paperclip inside the petri dish, more were added, one by one, until it could not move any further. After the beetle could not pull any more, the paperclips were massed and the results were recorded. The dependent variable was the mass that the beetles could pull. No control group was included in this experiment.
The crime scene was located in a deer hunting area in a meadow. There were several different types of trees and foliage surrounding the area where the skeletal remains were discovered. The...
results of the forensic anthropology. For instance, if a crime is committed at a certain scene,
Forensic anthropology is the study of bones in relation to a criminal investigation. Some have probably seen it used on television, but this is not an accurate portrayal of what this truly is. Many times, this area of forensic science is hidden from the public eye; people only get to see all of the glamorous parts. What they do not see is all of the hard work and effort that is put in to get the job correctly done. This career is a rare decision for someone to choose, because of the lack of opportunity for employment positions as well as the low income per year; however, it is an extremely fascinating occupation. Forensic anthropology has been known to help many organizations, including museums, and law enforcement agencies.
Crime scenes are known to have many clues left behind. The obvious would be a the body or bodies, clothing, and sometimes even the murder weapon. While these are great way to solve a case there's another kind of evidence; trace evidence. Trace evidence are small pieces of evidence that are laying around a crime scene. There are many types of trace evidence some of them include metal filings, plastic fragments, gunshot residue, glass fragments, feathers, food stains, building materials, lubricants, fingernail scrapings, pollens and spores, cosmetics, chemicals, paper fibers and sawdust, human and animal hairs, plant and vegetable fibers, blood and other body fluids, asphalt or tar, vegetable fats and oils, dusts and other airborne particles, insulation, textile fibers, soot, soils and mineral grains, and explosive residues. Although these are the most common found elements, they are not the only ones. The Trace Evidence Unit is known to examine the largest variety of evidence types and used the biggest range of analytical methods of any unit. materials are compared with standards or knowns samples to determine whether or not they share any common characteristics. In this paper I will discuss the different kinds of trace evidence and how crime scene investigaros use it to solve cases and convict criminal.
In today’s time, modern Crime Scene Investigation has increased rapidly. From throughout the late 1900’s and in the early 2000’s (Taylor 1). For all of the evidence that they find, a solid foundation has formed over the thousands of years of Crime Scene
The main reason for studying forensic entomology is to establish the time since death. Recognizing each species and their life stages as well as having knowledge about how long an insect is in a particular life stage is the basis for establishing a PMI. The use of forensic entomology is a growing area of research, which will become more prevalent as more research on the subject is completed. This is important in criminal cases in providing a time range for when the crime occurred so that it is possible to narrow the possibility of each suspect or to acquit the defendant.
...he case of forensics. You can go beyond the normal reality of blood spatter (?.. how does or where did blood spatter come into play here). The species of a set of bones can be determined through forensics anthropology. The sex of a skeleton. The age of a person and by studying the bones you can find a person’s age. Forensics Anthropology, (2014)
Forensic scientists work in labs where they examine, identify, and interpret evidence collected in crime scenes. Crime scene investigators collect evidence and pass it to a forensic scientist who uses the items in numerous ways to help catch criminals. Forensic scientists must also record the evidence and any tests ran on it in detail to prove the truth in court. A forensic scientist also has to be able to present his or her physical evidence verbally in court, so a strong communication background is important.
Forensic entomology is the study of insects and arthropods and their relation to a criminal investigation. Forensic entomology can determine the postmortem interval (PMI) or how long since the descendants’ death, whether the body has been moved since expiring, and what injuries may have been sustained (Ryan, 2011). When decomposition begins, insects establish a colony to lay eggs on the remains; these eggs will hatch into larvae that will eat the human organs and tissues. Forensic entomologists can determine the specific insects present in the body and estimate how long a body has been left exposed by examining the stage of development of the fly larvae; however, these findings are not always plausible. The fly larvae look and act different at each stage of development. The time required for stage development is not only affected by environmental influences such as geographical location, climate, and weather conditions, but also by type of insect. The forensic entomologist must consider these conditions when estimating the postmortem interval. Knowledge of insects, their life cycles, and their habits make entomological evidence a priceless tool for an investigation. Forensic entomology has proved its significance in a number of cases; though circumstances such as weather, temperature, and time of year clearly affect the development of insect infestation, and the expert must keep these in the forefront of his/her mind (Innes, 2000).
Forensic Science, recognized as Forensics, is the solicitation of science to law to understand evidences for crime investigation. Forensic scientists are investigators that collect evidences at the crime scene and analyse it uses technology to reveal scientific evidence in a range of fields. Physical evidence are included things that can be seen, whether with the naked eye or through the use of magnification or other analytical tools. Some of this evidence is categorized as impression evidence2.In this report I’ll determine the areas of forensic science that are relevant to particular investigation and setting out in what method the forensic science procedures I have recognized that would be useful for the particular crime scene.
Forensic investigations require skills of specially trained scientists, police, engineers, doctors and others. “These investigators observe all types of evidence, from weapons to bloodstains and from computers to bugs” (Erzinclioglu 5). The greater the evidence against a person, the greater the chance of conviction.
Crime today seems as if it keeps getting worse and worse, but without forensic science would we have been able to figure out some of the main details in some cases? Forensic science is any science used to help solve a case/mystery, which is very vital when it comes to criminal investigation research. While researching my project I discovered all the many tasks and difficulties that come with forensics.