It is all about the insects: a retrospective on 20 years of forensic entomology highlights the importance of insects in legal investigations

• DOI: 10.1007/s00414-021-02628-6
• Publication Date: 2021-09-30T08:12:09Z
• Authors: Lena Lutz; Richard Zehner; Marcel A. Verhoff; Hansjürgen Bratzke; Jens Amendt
• Keywords: Forensic Entomology; ddc:610; 03 medical and health sciences; Insecta; 0302 clinical medicine; Original Article ; Legal medicine ; Humans [MeSH] ; Postmortem interval ; Retrospective Studies [MeSH] ; Cadaver [MeSH] ; Negligence ; Animals [MeSH] ; Insecta [MeSH] ; Myiasis ; Blow flies ; Forensic Entomology [MeSH]; 590; Cadaver; 610; Animals; Humans; Original Article; Retrospective Studies

AbstractThis study highlights the importance of insect evidence by evaluating 949 insect-associated cases, including 139 entomological reports, from 2001 to 2019 at the Institute of Legal Medicine Frankfurt/Germany. With a high number of cases in the summer months and a low number in the colder season, 78.5% of the bodies were found indoors, regardless of year or month. In more than 80% of the cases, where PMI information was available (n = 704), the presumed PMI ranged from 1 to 21 days, a period during which entomological evidence can provide a day-specific estimate of PMImin. In cases where insects have been identified to species level (n = 279), most bodies were infested by one or two species with a maximum of 10 different species. Overall, a total of 55 insect species were found. Information on biology, activity and distribution of the most abundant taxa is given and applied for 5 case histories estimating different PMImins of up to over 6 months. Despite proved importance and scientific development of forensic entomology, insects are still rarely considered as a tool in forensic case work. The main reasons are a lack of awareness and (too) late involvement of a forensic entomologist. Our work shows that forensic entomology is an independent discipline that requires specialist expertise.