Medicolegal Entomology
Definition
The branch of forensic entomology applied to death investigation. Primary applications: PMI estimation, scene relocation evidence, wound distribution on skeletonised remains, entomotoxicology.
- Applications
- PMI estimation, scene relocation, wound analysis, entomotoxicology
- Branch of
- Forensic entomology
- Evidence type
- Insect colonisation of remains
Common questions
How does medicolegal entomology help detect scene relocation?+
Insect species colonising a body are habitat-specific, so finding species characteristic of an indoor or a different geographic environment on a body recovered outdoors can indicate the body was moved after death, contradicting the apparent scene.
What is entomotoxicology and how does it relate to PMI work?+
Entomotoxicology analyses drugs or toxins present in insect larvae feeding on decomposing tissue, which can reveal what substances were in the body even when soft tissue has decomposed too far for conventional toxicology, though drug presence can also alter larval growth rates and must be corrected for in PMI estimates.
Related terms
- Myiasis
- Infestation of a living human or other vertebrate by the larvae of flies, which feed on living or necrotic tissue, body fluids,...
- Stored-Product Entomology
- The branch addressing insects in food commodities, grain, pharmaceuticals, or packaged products. Forensic applications include determining where contamination occurred in the supply...
- Supply Chain Contamination Analysis
- In stored-product entomology, the process of using insect species identity, life stage, and population structure to determine whether food contamination occurred at...
- Synanthropic Species
- Insect species that live in close association with human habitation and benefit from human food or waste. Many urban forensic cases involve...
- Urban Entomology (Forensic)
- Application of entomology to civil, criminal, and regulatory cases involving insects in human living environments. Covers structural infestations, neglect/abuse cases, and myiasis...