Field validation of post-mortem interval estimation based on insect development. Part 2: Pre-appearance interval, expert evidence selection and accuracy baseline data.

This is the second part of the results from the field experiment aimed at validating PMI estimation based on insect evidence. First, we investigated the accuracy gains of PMI after supplementing age estimates with PAI. Second, we compared the impact on PMI of various ways, in which an expert selects insect evidence for the estimation.

Improving accuracy of age estimates for insect evidence-calibration of physiological age at emergence () using insect size but without " size" model.

Postmortem interval may be estimated based on the age of insect evidence collected on a death scene. Reference data that are used in such estimation frequently comprise thermal summation constant (i.e.

Competition, cooperation, and parental effects in larval aggregations formed on carrion by communally breeding beetles Necrodes littoralis (Staphylinidae: Silphinae).

Aggregations of juveniles are dominant forms of social life in some insect groups. Larval societies are shaped by competitive and cooperative interactions of the larvae, in parallel with parental effects. Colonies of necrophagous larvae are excellent systems to study these relationships.

Field validation of post-mortem interval estimation based on insect development. Part 1: Accuracy gains from the laboratory rearing of insect evidence.

There is a consensus that forensic methods must be valid. The high quality of the method may be fully demonstrated only through validation. Unfortunately, there are very few experimental or casework validations of entomological methods for estimating post-mortem interval (PMI).

Calibrating insect age at eclosion by size in a gregarious carrion beetle Thanatophilus sinuatus (Staphylinidae: Silphinae).

Recent discoveries have shown that the physiological age at eclosion of forensically useful beetles differs between males and females and between beetles of various sizes. Accordingly, it was postulated that the size and sex of the beetles at eclosion may be used to calibrate their age, which may improve the accuracy of age (and post-mortem interval) estimates in forensic entomology. In this study, we derived thermal summation models for the eclosion for the Central European population of carrion beetles Thanatophilus sinuatus (Fabricius, 1775), (Staphylinidae: Silphinae), and tested the usefulness of sex and size for the calibration of beetle age at eclosion.

Initial laboratory validation of temperature development models for Necrodes littoralis L. (Staphylinidae: Silphinae).

Development models of necrophagous insects are applied in forensic entomology for post-mortem interval estimation. Such estimates may be used as scientific evidence in legal investigations. For this reason, it is important that the models are valid and that the expert witness is aware of their limitations.

Erratum to: Competition of insect decomposers over large vertebrate carrion: beetles (Silphidae) vs. blow flies (Calliphoridae).

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoab100.].

Temperature models of development for Necrodes littoralis L. (Coleoptera: Silphidae), a carrion beetle of forensic importance in the Palearctic region.

Analysis of insects can provide evidence in death cases, for example, by answering the question about the time of death. Apart from flies, beetles are the second most useful insect group in forensic entomology. To elucidate the time of death based on insect evidence, developmental models of a given species are necessary.

Competition of insect decomposers over large vertebrate carrion: beetles (Silphidae) vs. blow flies (Calliphoridae).

Large carrion is inhabited by highly variable and interactive communities of insects. Positive interactions in carrion insect communities have been recently the focus in carrion ecology. In contrast, competition between carrion insects is rather undervalued.

Insect rearing protocols in forensic entomology: Benefits from collective rearing of larvae in a carrion beetle Necrodes littoralis L. (Silphidae).

Forensic entomologists frequently use a developmental method to estimate a post-mortem interval (PMI). Such estimates are based usually on the blow fly larvae or puparia. Data on their development is obtained by rearing them in colonies.

Post-Mortem Interval Estimation Based on Insect Evidence: Current Challenges.

During death investigations insects are used mostly to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI). These estimates are only as good as they are close to the true PMI. Therefore, the major challenge for forensic entomology is to reduce the estimation inaccuracy.

Heat production in a feeding matrix formed on carrion by communally breeding beetles.

Insects regulate their body temperature mostly behaviourally, by changing posture or microhabitat. Usually they use heat that is already present in the environment. Sometimes, however, they may manipulate the environment to affect, focus or benefit from thermogenesis.

The optimal post-eclosion interval while estimating the post-mortem interval based on an empty puparium.

The puparium is the hardened exoskeleton of the last larval instar of a fly, inside which a prepupa, a pupa and a pharate adult fly successively develop. Empty puparia are frequently collected at death scenes, especially in cases with a long post mortem interval (PMI). Although we are not able to estimate the interval between the eclosion of an adult fly and the collection of an empty puparium (i.

Estimation of physiological age at emergence based on traits of the forensically useful adult carrion beetle Necrodes littoralis L. (Silphidae).

The main entomological method for post-mortem interval involves estimation of age for immature insects found on a cadaver. Forensic entomologists frequently use the thermal summation value for the total immature development (K), which is a measure of physiological time needed to complete development of a species (age at emergence). K is highly variable within the species.

Correction to: Development and validation of forensically useful growth models for central European population of Creophilus maxillosus L. (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae).

This article was published with an error in Figs. 5 and 6. The figures have multiple mistakes with lines extending beyond the chart and lack of grid lines in some places.

Development and validation of forensically useful growth models for Central European population of Creophilus maxillosus L. (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae).

The hairy rove beetle, Creophilus maxillosus (Linnaeus) (Staphylinidae), is recognized for its use in forensic entomology. However, insufficient developmental data exist for the Central European population of this species. Accordingly, we studied the development of C.

Pigs vs people: the use of pigs as analogues for humans in forensic entomology and taphonomy research.

Most studies of decomposition in forensic entomology and taphonomy have used non-human cadavers. Following the recommendation of using domestic pig cadavers as analogues for humans in forensic entomology in the 1980s, pigs became the most frequently used model cadavers in forensic sciences. They have shaped our understanding of how large vertebrate cadavers decompose in, for example, various environments, seasons and after various ante- or postmortem cadaver modifications.

Post-mortem interval estimation based on insect evidence in a quasi-indoor habitat.

Insects collected on indoor cadavers are frequently used for post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation. Buildings encountered during crime investigations vary according to temperatures inside, the extent of insect access restriction or sanitary conditions. This article reports the PMI oriented analyses of insect evidence sampled from the human cadaver in the atypical indoor habitat.

Size at emergence improves accuracy of age estimates in forensically-useful beetle Creophilus maxillosus L. (Staphylinidae).

Insects colonizing human or animal cadavers may be used to estimate post-mortem interval (PMI) usually by aging larvae or pupae sampled on a crime scene. The accuracy of insect age estimates in a forensic context is reduced by large intraspecific variation in insect development time. Here we test the concept that insect size at emergence may be used to predict insect physiological age and accordingly to improve the accuracy of age estimates in forensic entomology.

Sex-specific developmental models for Creophilus maxillosus (L.) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae): searching for larger accuracy of insect age estimates.

Differences in size between males and females, called the sexual size dimorphism, are common in insects. These differences may be followed by differences in the duration of development. Accordingly, it is believed that insect sex may be used to increase the accuracy of insect age estimates in forensic entomology.

Blowfly puparia in a hermetic container: survival under decreasing oxygen conditions.

Despite widely accepted standards for sampling and preservation of insect evidence, unrepresentative samples or improperly preserved evidence are encountered frequently in forensic investigations. Here, we report the results of laboratory studies on the survival of Lucilia sericata and Calliphora vomitoria (Diptera: Calliphoridae) intra-puparial forms in hermetic containers, which were stimulated by a recent case. It is demonstrated that the survival of blowfly intra-puparial forms inside airtight containers is dependent on container volume, number of puparia inside, and their age.

A general approach for postmortem interval based on uniformly distributed and interconnected qualitative indicators.

There are many qualitative indicators for postmortem interval (PMI) of human or animal cadavers. When such indicators are uniformly spaced over PMI, the resultant distribution may be very useful for the estimation of PMI. Existing methods of estimation rely on indicator persistence time that is, however, difficult to estimate because of its dependence on many interacting factors, of which forensic scientists are usually unaware in casework.

Sex- and Size-Related Patterns of Carrion Visitation in Necrodes littoralis (Coleoptera: Silphidae) and Creophilus maxillosus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae).

The estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) based on successional patterns of adult insects is largely limited, due to the lack of potential PMI markers. Sex and size of adult insects could be easily used for such estimation. In this study, sex- and size-related patterns of carrion attendance by adult insects were analyzed in Necrodes littoralis (Coleoptera: Silphidae) and Creophilus maxillosus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae).

Inter-Rater Reliability of Total Body Score-A Scale for Quantification of Corpse Decomposition.

The degree of body decomposition can be quantified using Total Body Score (TBS), a scale frequently used in taphonomic or entomological studies of decomposition. Here, the inter-rater reliability of the scale is analyzed. The study was made on 120 laymen, which were trained in the use of the scale.

Classification of forensically-relevant larvae according to instar in a closely related species of carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae: Silphinae).

Carrion beetle larvae of Necrodes littoralis (Linnaeus, 1758), Oiceoptoma thoracicum (Linnaeus, 1758), Thanatophilus sinuatus (Fabricius, 1775), and Thanatophilus rugosus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Silphidae: Silphinae) were studied to test the concept that a classifier of the subfamily level may be successfully used to classify larvae according to instar. Classifiers were created and validated using a linear discriminant analysis (LDA). LDA generates classification functions which are used to calculate classification values for tested specimens.