Maggots and Time of Death Estimation

 Serangga adalah suatu bentuk kehidupan

yang sangat beragam.
 Terdapat jutaan species serangga yang
jumlahnya lebih dari 2/3 semua organisma
yang telah dikenal
 Serangga mengalami komplet atau inkomplet
metamorphosa ( telur- larva-pupa-serangga
dewasa)
 Larva pada lalat dikenal sebagai “maggots”
 Forensic Entomology adalah aplikasi serangga
(insects and other arthropods)yangmemakan
tubuh yang telah membususk untk membantu
investigasi hukum.
 Meliputi:
 Medicolegal (criminal)
 Urban (criminal and civil)
 “legal proceedings involving insects and related
animals that affect manmade structures and other
aspects of the human environment”
 Stored product pests (civil)
 Biasanya digunakan unutuk memperkirakan
postmortem interval ( PMI)
 Kemungkinan criminal misuse of insects
 Forensic Entomology digunakan untuk
memperkirakan selang waktu setelah kematian
(waktu antara kematian dan diketemukannya
tubuh jenazah)
 postmortem interval (PMI).
 Dapat digunakan untuk membantu:
• Perpindahan jenazah
• Cara dan sebab mati
• Hubungan antara tersangka dengan TKP
• Deteksi racun atau obat-obatan , bahkan DNA
korban melalui analisa larva serangga
 Pembusukan adalah proses pendauran tubuh
mahluk hidup yang telah meninggal
 Serangga betina akan tertarik pada bangkai.
Mereka akan memilih lubang-lubang orifices
atau luka untk meletakkkan telur/larva.
 Seorang forensic entomologist:
 Identifikasi serangga immature
 Memeriksa ukuran dan perkembangan serangga
 Memperkirakan pertumbuhan serangga and stage
dalam sikulsuhidupnya.
 Membandingkan pertumbuhan menurut kondisi
cuaca untukmemprkirakan saat oviposition
 Perkiraan PMI berdasarkan keberadaan serangga pada
jenazah
• The time required for a given species to reach a particular stage
of development.
• Comparisons of all insect species present on the remains at the
time of examination.
 Ecological succession occurs as an unexploited habitat
(like a corpse) is invaded by a series of different
organisms.
 The first invasion is by insect species which will alter
the habitat in some form by their activities. These
changes make the habitat attractive to a second wave
of organisms which, in turn, alter the habitat for use by
yet another organisms.
 Necrophages - the first species feeding on corpse
tissue. Includes rue flies (Diptera) and beetles
(Coleoptera).
 Omnivores - species such as ants, wasps, and some
beetles that feed on both the corpse and associated
maggots. Large populations of ominvores may slow
the rate of corpse’s decomposition by reducing
populations of necrophagous species.
 Parasites and Predators - beetles, true flies and wasps
that parasitize immature flies.
 Incidentals – pill bugs, spiders, mites, centipedes that
use the corpse as an extension of their normal habitat
Image: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/visibleproofs
 Studies of decay rates of 150 human corpses at
in the Anthropological Facility in Tennessee
(The Body Farm)
 Most important environment factors in corpse
decay:
• Temperature
• Access by insects
• Depth of burial

 Other Factors
• Chemical-- embalming agent, insecticides, lime, etc.
• Animals disrupting the corpse
Temperature Stiffness Time of death
Warm Not stiff Not dead more
than three hours

Warm Stiff Dead between 3

to 8 hours

Cold Stiff Dead between 8

to 36 hours

Cold Not stiff Dead in more

than 36 hours
 These may not always equate.
 Post mortem interval is restricted to the time
that the corpse or body has been exposed to an
environment which would allow insect activity
to begin.
 Closed windows
 Body in box or bag
 Cold temperatures
 Deeper burial
 Calculate the heat/thermal energy
(accumulated degree hour) required for each
stage of the Green Bottle Fly’s life cycle.
 Possibly the greatest potential source of error in
using arthropod successional patterns lies in
the collection of speciments.
 Must only be done correctly to accurately
sample the insects.
Image: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/visibleproofs
 From To Temp Hours ADH Cumulative ADH

Egg 1st Instar 70° F 23 23 x 70= 1610

1610 ADH
1st Instar 2nd Instar 70 ° F 27 27 x 70= 1610+
1890 ADH 1890

2nd Instar 3rd Instar 70 ° F 22 22 x 70= 1610+1890+

1540 ADH 1540

3rd Instar Pupa 70 ° F 130 130 x 70= 1610+1890+

9100 ADH 1540+9100

Pupa Adult Fly 70 ° F 143 143 x 70= 1610+1890+

10010 ADH 1540+9100
+10010
 3928 ADH in these three days (952+1488+1488).
 How many ADH of 70º are there in these 3
days?
 3928/70=56.11 hours
 72 hours at 70º would have the insects passing
to the 3rd instar. But 72 hours at colder
temperatures and insects will only be at 2nd
instar stage.
 Fresh
 Bloat
 Decay
 Post-decay
 Dry (skeletal)
 Begins at death
 Flies begin to
arrive
 Temperature falls
to that of the
ambient
temperature.
 Autolysis, the
degradation of
complex protein
and carbohydrate
molecules, occurs.
 Swells due to
gases
produced by
bacteria
 Temperature
rise of the
corpse
 Flies still
present
 Gases subside,
decomposition fluids
seep from body.
 Bacteria and maggots
break through the
skin.
 Large maggot masses
and extreme amounts
of fluid.
 Unpleasant odor
 Larvae beginning to
pupate.
 Corpse reduced to
about 20% of it’s
original mass.
 Carcass reduced to
hair, skin, and
bones.
 Fly population
reduced and
replaced by other
arthropods.
 Hide beetles are
dominant in dry
environments.
 Mite and
predatory beetle
populations
increase.
 Does not always occur especially if corpse is in
a wet region. Maggots will stay longer and
hide beetles will not appear.
 In wet environments the hide beetles are
replaced with nabid and reduviid insects.
 The corpse is reduced to at least ten percent of
the original mass.
 In the last stage (Skeletal Stage), only bone and
hair remain.
 This project took place at the Huntington
landfill beginning on September 5, 2003.
 Two different areas were chosen to deposit two
pigs.
 Pig 1 was laid in a sunlit area.
 Pig 2 was laid in a shaded woodland area
about 100 feet away at an elevation of
approximately 20 feet.
 Both pigs were housed in cages constructed of
wood and one inch chicken wire that were
staked to the ground to protect from predatory
animals.
 Prior to starting the project, great care was
taken to prevent insect activity from taking
place.
 Subsequent to death, the pigs were
individually tied in two black garbage bags,
placed in feed sacks, and secured.
 The pigs were kept at -80˚C in the laboratory.
 They were placed in plastic bins in order to
thaw for 48 hours prior to placement at the
landfill.
 Closed environment was maintained until they
were deposited at the site.
 Pigs with a genetic line of a minimum of fifty
percent Yorkshire.
 They were 8-10 weeks old and weighed
approximately 40-50 pounds.
 Both died on July 11, 2003 approximately 12
hours apart. One died a natural death and
the other was culled from the litter.
 Both of the carcasses were in very similar
condition; there were no breaks, tears or cuts
in the skin.
 Daily observations were made at both sites
throughout the day at 7am, 1pm, 7pm, and
1am.
 Air, ground, and maggot mass temperatures
were taken at each visit and observations were
recorded.
 At 7am and 7pm they also collected maggot
samples for analysis and photographed the
scene.
 Observations were noted and samples taken
for a period of nine days.
 Using insect tweezers, they collected a number
of maggots and dropped the samples
immediately into boiling water, to kill the
bacteria in the maggots and also to straighten
their bodies for easier analysis.
 The maggot samples were taken from different
areas of the body in which there were large
numbers present.
 The maggots were then placed into a labeled
jar and preserved with 70% EtOH.
 They also collected interesting arthropods for
analysis.
 All of the samples were labeled and stored for
later analysis in the laboratory.
Spiracles are incomplete
Third-instar larvae
Spiracles are complete
Third-instar larvae
 Flies began to arrive within minutes of pig
placement however, laying of eggs was
delayed 12-18 hours.
 There was already some green discoloration on
Pig 2 at the beginning of the fresh stage,
possibly due to the fact that it was dead about 8
hrs before Pig 1.
 72 hrs later, the first signs of bloating occurred,
ending the Fresh Stage.
 At about 72 hours, noticeable bloating began to
occur in Pig 1.
 However, Pig 2 did not show visible signs of
bloating until about 92 hours.
 The gap between the two pigs might have been
even greater if they had both died at exactly the
same time.
 Decay stage started around 102 hours.
 At this point, the maggots had broken the skin
and the pigs had begun to deflate.
 Decompositional fluids began to seep from the
carcass.
 There was a green froth around the pig and
also a dark fluid ring around the body of Pig 1.
 Maggot activity increased tremendously, and
maggot mass temperature reached its high
during this stage.
 When the experiment was terminated due to
the fact that maggot activity had ceased, the
pigs had reached the Post-Decay Stage.
 They were mostly skin, bones, and hair, but
there was some tissue remaining.
 Maggot Mass and Ambient Temperatures  The graph shows an
vs Time for Pig One
elevation for maggot
45 mass temperatures
over ambient
40
35
30 Maggot Mass
25 Temperature
20 Ambient
Temperature
 The fluctuation in
15
10 ambient temperature
5
induced elevated
0
0 100 200 300 maggot activity which
is consistent with
other similar
Sunlit Pig
experiments.
 Maggot Mass and Ambient Temperatures  The ambient
vs. Time for Pig Two
temperature for
50
45
Pig 2 was more
40 constant because
it was in a shaded
35
Maggot Mass
30
Temp
25
20 Ambient Temp area.
15
10  The temperatures
for Pig 1
5
0
0 100 200 300
fluctuated more
than those of Pig
Shaded Pig 2.
  Shows a gradual
18
increase then
16 decrease for the
14
Phormia regina
12
10 Phormia regina Pig 1  The maggots feed
8 Phormia regina Pig 2
and grow to a
6
4 certain point when
2 they begin to leave
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
the carcass to find a
safe place to
pupate.
  Two peaks for
18
16
the Phaenicia
14  Infers two
generations for
12
10 Phaenicia Pig 1
8 Phaenicia Pig 2 Pig 1.
6
4
2
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
 These are
distinguishable by the
length and obvious size
difference.
 This is why we believe
there are two peaks in
our graph data for the
Sunlit Pig.
 The photograph was
taken at a time
consistent with the
influx at 132 hours.
 Two different species of maggots were
collected over the nine day period.
 These two species were analyzed at their third
instar stages; they were able to determine the
difference by comparing their spiracles.
 The third instar was the only stage that they
analyzed; species determination was more
evident at this stage of development.
 They also reared a sample of maggots from
each pig for later species analysis.
 ADH may be calculated using temperature and
hours.
 This works because there is direct correlation
between temperature and maggot
development.
 Our calculations were somewhat rough but
relatively accurate.
 ADH for Pig 1 was calculated as 4885.2 after
nine days.
 ADH for Pig 2 was calculated as 4488.6 after
nine days.
 These can be used to determine PMI for
carcasses found in this area in similar
conditions.
The End