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Entomology in Forensics

Research · April 2021

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Shelby Miller

Xavier University Department of Criminal Justice

CJUS 449-01

Professor Angela Keller

18 April 2021
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Though oftentimes overlooked when asked to think about subfields of criminalistics,

forensic entomology is as important of a subfield as ballistics or toxicology, especially where

death is involved. Forensic entomology is the study of insects and their relation to a criminal

investigation or legal issue. Specifically, entomologists look at insect matter, growth patterns,

and succession of arrival at a crime scene to determine the time of death or the time the crime

was committed. Mostly thought of in terms of forensic value, forensic entomology also

contributes to fields such as ecology, evolution, and insect behavior. There are three branches of

forensic entomology, stored-product, urban, and medicolegal, which is the most well known

branch, which will serve as the basis for this paper.

The very first report of medicolegal forensic entomology for judicial means was an

isolated case coming out of a book from 13th century China, though the bulk of the birth of

forensic entomology was in Germany and France in the late 1880s (Benecke, 2001). Italian

physician Francesco Redi proved the connection between flies and maggots in 1668 through and

experiment with meat (Hadley, 2020). Though it was during the mid-1800s mass exhumations in

central Europe that medical doctors Orfila and Lesueur observed many of them and understood

that maggots play a very integral role in the decomposition process. Orfila and Lesueur

published two books on exhumations in which they established a relationship between

decomposing bodies and specific insects. After the publication of army veterinarian Jean Pierre

Mégnin’s popular applied forensic entomology book, the field spread quickly to the United

States and Canada, where leaps and bounds were made in insect taxonomy and ecology

(Benecke, 2001).

German doctor Reinhard used a more systematic way of studying the relationship

established 50 years prior by Orfila and Lesueur. He exhumed bodies to collect and identify the
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insects present, specifically noting the presence of the phorid fly (Hadley, 2020). What is

considered to be the first ‘modern’ forensic entomology case including an estimate of

postmortem interval (PMI), was written by French doctor, Bergeret in 1855 and dealt with blow

fly pupa and larval stage moths. In the paper, Bergeret gives a brief overview of the life cycle of

insects, but mistakenly claimed that metamorphosis would take a full year to complete, and

additionally claimed that females generally lay their eggs in summer, and the larva would

metamorphosize into pupae by spring and hatch by the next summer, which skewed the estimate

of the PMI dramatically (Benecke, 2001).

While so much of the foundational groundwork was laid, forensic entomology was only

sporadically used in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was not until fairly recently that forensic

entomology became more commonplace in police investigations (Anderson, n.d.). Initially,

forensic entomology had been used only in instances of deaths, but it is becoming increasingly

more common to use it in child and sexual abuse, rapes, and more. Within the past twenty years,

more and more associations such as the North American Forensic Entomology Association have

been founded in order to foster an environment of shared interest and research comradery

between forensic entomologists, as well as serving as certifying agencies to increase the

legitimacy of the field (Amendt, et al. 2009).

Necrophagous insects are crucial to the decomposition of corpses. In order of importance,

the types of insects that one would find at the scene of a death would be necrophages such as

blow flies, parasites and predators such as carrion beetles, omnivores such as ants, and

incidentals such as spiders and mites (Catts & Goff, 1992). Understanding the five bodily

decomposition stages is imperative to understanding how these insects break down the body in

the manner they do. The fresh stage is considered to be days one and two, which begins at the
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exact moment of death and ends when bloating of the carcass is observed. Autolysis begins, but

not major physical changes occur yet. However, chemicals and odors not undetectable to humans

begin to attract insects (Joseph, et al., 2011). The second stage is bloating, which occurs from

days two to seven. Metabolic activity of bacteria in the abdomen produces gases, which in turn

inflates the carcass, giving it a balloon like appearance. The putrefaction process alongside the

development of insects in the carcass cause the body temperature to rise, attracting more insects.

By day five to thirteen, the corpse has entered the decay stage, marked by the lack of bloating.

The internal temperature will rise by another fifteen to twenty degrees, and then drop

significantly, signifying the end of the decay stage. Odors from the body increase and decrease

with the internal temperature, and the weight of the carcass will decrease in weight as

decomposition continues (Joseph, et al., 2011). The next stage is post decay, which occurs from

day ten to twenty three. At this point, the Diptera insects are leaving the carcass, leaving bones,

hair cartilage, and byproducts of decay behind. Within the byproducts of decay is the main site

for arthropod activity in the remains. In the fifth and last stage of decomposition is the remains

stage, which occurs from day eighteen onwards. Only the bones and cartilage remain, and any

remaining byproducts of decay had dried up. As the remains age, the insects gradually leave the

carcass behind (Joseph, et al., 2011).

Most cases that involve a forensic entomologist are those that are 72 hours or older. Any

shorter amount of time, and entomology would not be the most accurate forensic evidence,

though after three days, entomology is in fact the most accurate, and sometimes the only method

in determining time of death (Anderson, Ph.D., n.d.). There are two main ways of using insects

to determine the time of death of an individual: using successional waves of insects or using

maggot age and development. The method used is dependent upon the circumstances and
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conditions of the corpse. When a corpse has been dead for some time after one month, the

entomologist will base their report on successional waves of the insects, whereas if the death was

less than a month prior to investigation, the entomologist will look at the age and development of

maggots.

According to Anderson, Ph.D., the corpse will become a very rapidly changing

ecosystem, going from fresh to dried bones in a matter of weeks or months depending on the

geographic region. During decomposition, the remains go through not only physical change, but

biological and chemical changes, and different stages are more or less attractive to certain

insects. Depending on the species they will arrive within 24 hours of death during the spring and

summer months, though some arrive quicker in the presence of bodily fluids or blood. The first

group of insects that arrive are the blowflies and the flesh flies, which feed on the flesh. The next

group of insects would be insects such as cheese skippers, which feed off of protein fermentation

(Anderson, Ph.D., n.d.). Though it should be noted, not all insects involved are attracted by the

corpse itself but arrive to feed on the insects already at the scene. Many different species are

involved in the decomposition stage, and each group slightly overlaps the group to come after it,

giving an entomologist a good idea of the time of death.

The second method uses maggots and their development to give an accurate time of death

within a month of the death. The maggots in question are the larval stages of Diptera, specifically

blowflies, which again, are among the first insects to arrive to a corpse. The blowflies lay their

eggs either directly in the corpse’s wounds or orifices, where they will follow a set, predictable

life cycle. Various necrophagous fly maggots progress the decomposition at a very high speed.

The mass of maggots in a corpse will raise the internal temperature by creating metabolic heat

from feeding on and moving within the corpse. Mass maggot infestation can raise the body
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temperature nearly 70 degrees above ambient but can raise it as much as 115 degrees in warmer

ambient temperatures. In conditions that are cooler to below freezing temperatures, the maggots

can even generate enough heat to continue development (Byrd & Castner, 2010). The rising body

temperature, especially in warmer ambient temperatures will cause the body to bloat, attracting

the next stages of insects, driving the decomposition process further.

While the blowfly has a consistent, predictable life cycle, it is not always straightforward

in determining the PMI. Time required in each stage of development of the blowflies are affected

by factors such as geographical location or presence of drugs (Saferstein, n.d.). There are also

environmental factors that affect decomposition, such as temperature, darkness, precipitation,

burials, etc. (Merritt & Benbow, 2009). Of course, Catts and Goff (1992) bring up that obviously

not all corpses are dumped outside, in fact, many of them are indoors or in closed containers

where they are not necessarily as susceptible to the weather and insects. These corpses may still

be subject to many ranges of ambient temperatures, but they may not be subjected to the

onslaught on insects that corpses left in the weather may be, or situational factors such as the

corpse being wrapped in something such as plastic. In cases like this, the decomposition process

may be much slower than that of outdoor corpses.

One major court case concerning forensic entomology is the 2004 case Lobato v. The

State of Nevada. July 2001, a man foraging through dumpsters in Las Vegas finds a man’s

mutilated body. The victim had been beaten on the face and head, having lost six teeth. He had

been repeatedly stabbed and his throat was slashed. Postmortem, the man’s rectum was also

slashed and his genitals had been cut off which was found several feet from the body. When the

police arrived to the scene, a woman (Lobato) asked about the identity of the victim, as she had

been raped by a man she knew as “St. Louis” and “Duran” one week prior. She claimed he
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threatened to kill her if she went to the police, though she filed a police report five days after the

incident. When the police were finally able to identify the man, they confirmed him to be 44 year

old Duran Bailey. Police did not originally pursue Lobato as the suspect of the murder until

nearly two weeks later, when a juvenile parole officer called in to report a rumor. The parole

officer had heard a rumor from her friend (Lobato’s then teacher) than 18 year old Lobato was

telling others that she recently had cut off a man’s penis in Las Vegas. After interviewing Lobato

for less than three hours, police arrested her for the murder of Duran Bailey, though she denied

all allegations and even passed a polygraph exam. In court in 2002, Lobato refused a plea deal

for a three year sentence. However, Lobato had one glaring piece of mitigating evidence: she

was seen by witnesses nearly 170 miles from Las Vegas on the day of Bailey’s death.

The medical examiner originally claimed in the preliminary hearing that Bailey would

have been killed around twelve hours to the 10 p.m. discovery, but now testified that his death

could have occurred as much as eighteen hours prior to discovery. When the lead detective

testified, he spoke of his interview with Lobato, where she spoke of the sexual assault, and had

claimed to defend herself with a butterfly knife, but the timeline of events was fuzzy, as Lobato

had consumed methamphetamines. Another witness, a fellow inmate of Lobato, claimed she

admitted to the entire thing, and had even bragged to others and said that Bailey had ‘deserved

it.’ Lobato herself testified that her assault had really happened in May, weeks before Bailey’s

death, and she claimed not to have even known Bailey (Possley, 2018).

On May 18, 2002, the jury convicted Lobato of first degree murder and sexual

penetration of a dead body, and she was sentenced to 40 to 100 years in prison. However, in

September 2004, the court reversed the conviction and Lobato was granted a new trial, which

took place in late 2006. Out of the 22 fingerprints found at the scene, none were Lobato’s nor
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Bailey’s, though other evidence such as a cigarette butt and a chewed piece of gum was traced

back to Bailey. Lobato was once again charged, this time with voluntary manslaughter and

sexual penetration of a dead body, being sentenced 13 to 45 years in prison (Possley, 2018). The

next year, Lobato filed a writ of habeas corpus. Her main argument to overturn the ruling was the

absence of blowfly activity on Bailey’s body, meaning he was likely killed after 8 p.m., only two

hours before he was discovered, when Lobato was nearly 170 miles from Las Vegas. Three

forensic entomologists had agreed that given the climate of Las Vegas, there would have been

insect activity on the body had he been dead for as long as the medical examiner had testified. In

2011, the petition was denied, and the appeal of the denial was not decided until 2016. Forensic

entomologist Gail Anderson was asked to take the case, which she ruled that the victim would

have had to been killed within two hours of being found. In 2017, Lobato went back to trial,

where Anderson and two other forensic entomologists independently testified that the climate of

Nevada, the body, and the story did not align. A forensic pathologist corroborated the claim

based on the rigor mortis changes in the body. Lobato was given a new trial in December of

2017, where the charges against Lobato were dismissed (Possley, 2018).

As with any field, there are a handful of prominent figures in forensic entomology whom

one is going to inevitably encounter. Not necessarily the father of modern forensic entomology,

but someone who laid the first foundation of the field, Song Ci (1186-1249), the 13 th century

Chinese Judicial Intendant who solved a murder using the farmers’ machetes and flies. Italian

physician Francesco Redi (1626-1697) was a forefather in the field for disproving spontaneous

generation of maggots via his experiment with rotting meat. Redi’s work prompted further

investigation into the life cycles of insects and the decomposition of organisms. French doctor

Bergeret d’Arbois (1814-1893) was the first to truly apply forensic entomology to a legal case,
 Miller 8

leading him to be the first use of forensic entomology in an estimation of postmortem interval to

infer time of death. Hermann Reinhard (1816-1892) was a German physician and entomologist,

who was the first to personally exhume bodies to examine the many varieties of insect species

playing roles in human body decomposition. His work was used extensively in furthering the

field’s research. Jean Pierrre Mégnin (1828-1905) was an army veterinarian, and published a

great many articles and books, many of which are considered to be among the most important

forensic entomology books in history. Mégnin did also did revolutionary work in theories of

successions of insects into corpses to predict time of death. His later work on larval and adult

forms of different insect families found in cadavers propelled the field even further, aiding in

further establishing the field (Bugs in Forensics: Forensic Entomology, n.d.). A more recent

figure, Frenchman Marcel Leclercq, Ph.D. was another cornerstone pioneer in the field. Many of

his cases were individually published though a synthesis had never been published. Leclercq

practiced mainly in Belgium, working for nearly 40 years, covering almost 135 cases, 141 of

which involved human corpses in various death scenes. Because of Leclercq, more than 100

species of insect species associated with decomposition of corpses have been identified

(Dekeirsschieter, J., et al., 2013). Even more recently, and most importantly, Bernard Greenberg

(1922-2017) was a renowned professor of entomology at University of Illinois, Chicago, and

would often assist law enforcement agencies across the country in murder investigations with his

knowledge of entomology. His specialty was maggots and their role in homicides. By knowing

the insect’s natural habitat and the life cycle, Greenberg was able to give an approximate time of

death, whether or not the body had been moved, etc. (Rothrock, 1996). The many years of work

done by Greenberg fertilized and grew the field of forensic entomology further than it had ever

been expected to go, thereby earning the title of the father of forensic entomology.
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In pursuit of becoming a forensic entomologist, one must first have interest in insects,

knowledge of the law, interpersonal and communicational skills, public speaking skills, and then

must obtain a bachelor’s degree in entomology, biology, zoology, forensics, or another natural

science. It is recommended that while in college, one should take additional classes in biology,

criminalistics, ecological impact, evolution, forensics, genetics, anatomy and physiology, insect

anatomy and life cycles, microbiology, parasitology, taxonomy, toxicology, and more. Students

should then begin looking for internships, jobs, or other hands on experience via working with

someone in the field, working with insects at their local zoo, or finding a job through the

Entomological Society of America. In order to begin working as a forensic entomology

technician, the first level of certification was me attained through the American Board of

Forensic Entomology (ABFE). To qualify for the exam, one must submit a detailed resume

listing all relevant courses and experience, college transcripts, and a check for the one hundred

dollar fee to the ABFE. Once the exam is passed and the person is certified, they are then

authorized to collect and process entomological specimens before sending them to the main

ABFE lab. Additionally, there is a fifty dollar yearly due, and technicians have to recertify every

five years (Drummond, n.d.).

If one desires to work more on the side of research and academia, they must earn a

graduate degree. It is here that more specialized courses will be taken such as aquatic insects,

medical entomology, forensic entomology, insect behavior, etc. Quite often, graduate level

entomology students work on independently lead research and projects. If a doctorate degree is

the goal, a great deal of time and effort is needed. Much of this student’s time will be spent doing

research and attending seminars, as well as taking written and oral exams, and completing their

dissertation. For those that complete their doctorate program, they may apply for the terminal
 Miller 10

certification: member or diplomate status through the ABFE. Candidates for this certification

must pass peer review processes, as well as practical and written exams (Drummond, n.d.). It is

also highly recommended that they join other forensic entomology groups such as the North

American Forensic Entomology Association for continuing education, conferences, networking,

and other resources.

Modern forensic entomology is a fairly new and growing subfield of criminalistics, with

more and more entomologists finding niche specialties within the field such as insect succession,

aquatic entomology, phylogentics and population genetics, and entomotoxicology. Interestingly

enough, forensic entomology no longer is confined to human deaths, but is now being applied in

wildlife law enforcement. The Americana Board of Forensic Entomology was formed in 1996 as

a means of certifying forensic entomologists, and in 2002 the European Association for Forensic

Entomology was founded. As with any subfield of criminalistics, forensic entomology is looking

to standardize methods and guidelines going into the future. In recent years, there has been a

great deal of talk concerning a central repository of reference specimens. The belief is that it

would facilitate more research, as well as create a dedicated location to house specimens, rather

than having them scattered across the globe. Many entomologists are pushing for this collection

of specimen not only for reference, but as a repository of genetic material, something similar to

the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s

(USDA APHIS) Medfly Germplasm Repository or the Institute für Bienenkunde in Germany.

(Amendt, et al., 2009).

Until recent years, forensic entomologists typically gathered and presented their research

at large entomology or forensic science conferences. In large interdisciplinary conferences, the

issues important to forensic entomology were oftentimes ignored. To combat this, in the early
 Miller 11

2000s, the European Association for Forensic Entomology (2002) and the North American

Forensic Entomology Association (2003) formed to hold annual forensic entomology

conferences to present research in a place that it would be respected and valued. It is expected

that as the field grows, more of these associations will form and operate as these two do

(Amendt, et al.,2009). On a related note, as the field grows, so too does the need to have

specialized forensic entomology laboratories. There is currently one in France, which serves as

the model for what coming specialty labs should look like. This laboratory has three main jobs:

to aid in criminal investigations, to educate crime scene investigators, and to conduct research.

With the help of television shows such as Dirty Jobs, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,

and Forensic Files, the field is rowing in popularity. It is no longer an obscure niche of people in

criminalistics. With increased spotlight attention, more people will get involved in the field. In

turn more resources and attention will be given to forensic entomology, and more research will

be able to take place, further fostering an environment of growth for the area.
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