question archive It is only in the last few decades that forensic entomology's true potential is being utilized
It is only in the last few decades that forensic entomology's true potential is being utilized
Subject:BiologyPrice: Bought3
It is only in the last few decades that forensic entomology's true
potential is being utilized. Professional organizations like the North American Forensic Entomology Association (NAFEA) and the European Association of Forensic Entomology (EAFE) has been established. NAFEA was founded by Dr. John Wallace and Dr. Jeffery Tomberlin to promote recognition of insects as an essential component of the crime investigation. In November 2002, while attending the Entomological Society of America Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Dr. John Wallace and Dr. Jeffery Tomberlin had a very long discussion about the problems that forensic entomology is facing on its way to becoming an important forensic tool in medicolegal investigations. During this discussion both set a goal to organize a conference that could be attended by national and international forensic entomologist, especially from developing countries. This resulted the first North American Forensic Entomology conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the professional organization was named as the North American Forensic Entomology Association (NAFEA). EAFE, European association for Forensic Entomology was founded in 2002 and Jens Amendt played a major role in its establishment. EAFE has almost 100 members and 41 associate members. Their aim is to encourage the Forensic entomology throughout the Europe and establish the collaboration with related international bodies.
The most important goal of a forensic entomologist is to investigate arthropod evidence collected from the human dead body and estimate how long the insects were present (Time of Colonization) (Tomberlin et al., 2011). This time period is known as the post-mortem interval (PMI). The age of immature stages of insects found on a dead body can provide evidence for the estimation of a minimum PMI ranging from one day to more than one month, depending on the insect species involved and the climatic conditions at the death scene. Adult insects oviposit on the carcass (especially in the genital and facial orifices to avoid desiccation) and start their life cycle. After eclosion, eggs develop into larvae and pass through three instars, pupate and emerge as adults. Age estimation is less precise in the case of third instar and puparial stages as these stages take more time to complete development (Tarone and Foran, 2008, 2011). Hence, methods for reliable age estimation of forensically important insects are crucial for medico-legal investigation.
Exact species identification of insect samples is the first essential step in estimating the age of the larvae found. Calliphorid flies start the postmortem clock as they visit the dead remains both for oviposition and feeding. Oriental latrine fly, Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) and hairy maggot blowfly, Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are forensically important blowflies, widely distributed in many parts of world. These ?ies can withstand considerable temperature ?uctuations and thus can help to calculate the minimum PMI in all the seasons in north India where there is lot of temperature variation throughout the year.
Can new possibilities be explored to improve the methods for PMI estimation? If yes, how?
