Page 10 - Natures Witness Entomology

Forensic

Entomology

orensic entomology is the application of the revealed when blowflies flies swarmed on a single
scientific study of insects to criminal and civil scythe coated with microscopic traces of blood.
Finvestigations. Forensic entomology experts
testify in court in many diverse cases ranging from Entomology was also used in 1855 to solve a
the origins of insects in food and termites in houses murder in Paris. In this instance the body of an
to murders and suspicious deaths. infant was found concealed behind the mantle in a
house that had been plastered 5 years prior, thus
In 13th century China Sung Tz’u, a traveling judge preventing further insect contact after plastering.
who investigated numerous murders, authored Dr. Bergeret d’Arbois, a Swiss entomologist,
a book about his cases. In one of his most determined that the fly, Sarcophaga carnaria, had
sensational cases Tz’u used the attraction of flies to laid eggs which developed into maggots when the
fresh blood to identify a murder suspect. The victim corpse was fresh. Mites, which prefer to lay their
in this case was murdered with a scythe, so Tz’u eggs on a dried corpse, were also identified. He
ordered all villagers to bring their scythes out for estimated that this drying process would have
inspection. The murder weapon and suspect were taken at least a year, so the mites were dated

10 THE MYSTERY OF LYLE AND LOUISE