FREE online courses on the Basics to Forensic Entomology - Analyzing the
crime scene - What should be looked for at the crime scene
The type of habitat the crime scene is located in? Is it
rural, urban/suburban or aquatic? Is it a forest, a roadside, a closed building,
an open building, a pond, a lake, a river, or another habitat type. The type of
habitat dictates what types of insects that could be found on the body. Finding
of insects typical of other habitats than the crime scene may suggest that the
body has been dumped.
Estimate the number and kinds of flying and crawling insects.
Note locations of major infestations associated with the body
and surrounding area. These infestations may be egg, larval, pupal or adult
stages, alone or in any combinations of the above.
Note immature stages of particular adult insects observed.
These stages can include eggs, larvae, pupae, empty pupal cases, cast larval
skins, fecal material, and exit holes or feeding marks on the remains.
Note any insect predation such as beetles, ants and wasps or
insect parasites.
Note the exact position of the body: compass direction of the
main axis, position of the extremities, position of head and face, noting of
which body parts are in contact with substrate, noting where it would be
sunlight and shade during a normal daylight cycle.
Note insect activity within 3-6 m of the body. Observe
flying, resting or crawling insect adults or larvae or pupae within this
proximity to the body.
Note any unusual naturally occurring, man-made, or
scavenger-caused phenomenon which could alter the environmental effects on the
body (trauma or mutilation of the body, burning, covering, burial, movement, or
dismemberment)
Photographs should be taken of all this, with close-up photos
of the different stages of insect found before collecting.
