Term
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Definition
| Study of insects & other invertebrates that colonize a corpse upon death & Throughout the various stages of decomposition as well as the insect offspring's rate of development |
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Term
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Definition
| Predominant early specie upon corpse - most commonly used when determining PMI; oviposits only after corpse is partially decomposed |
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Term
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Definition
| "Coffin Fly" - most common to buried human remains & above ground mausoleums; active between fermentation & drying of corpse |
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Term
| Determining Post-Mortem Interval (Forensic Entomology) |
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Definition
| Body may have been moved - insects native to 1st habitat, not necessarily the 2nd; presence & position of wounds - insects in areas exposed: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, vagina/anus; presence of toxins - insects take some of DNA from person's body so can test fly for toxicology |
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Term
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Definition
| Tend to colonize after primary blowfly infestation - competition occurs w/ other blow fly species for best laying sites |
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Term
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Definition
| Arrive at corpse ~1 day after blow fly colonization to feed upon the maggots; some feed upon the body's fluids & tissues |
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Term
| Insect Collection (before body removal, to obtain toxicology & DNA of body) |
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Definition
| Maggot larvae - lack of soft tissue in body, so obtain; beetles - feed upon body's fluids & tissues, so obtain; moth larvae - feed on hair & decomposition fluids; blow flies - adults, eggs & larvae |
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Term
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Definition
| Lay eggs on corpse after fly larvae are finished w/ corpse - final specie contributing to decomposition of a carcass |
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Term
| Investigative Approach (Forensic Entomology) |
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Definition
| 1. Visual observations & notations of scene; 2. Initiate climate data collection - temp; 3. Collection of specimens from body - before removal; 4. Collection of specimens from surrounding area - up to 20ft from body before removal of remains; 5. Collection of specimens from directly under & in close proximity to the remains after body has been removed |
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Term
| Equipment (Forensic Entomology) |
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Definition
| Aerial net, liquid collection vials, forceps, styrofoam cups w/ lids, paper labels, hand trowel, thermometer & psychrometer, camera & video recorder, paper towel/tissue paper, chemical solutions - KAA, PPE, measuring devices, log book & data sheets, death scene checklist, spoons & tongue depressors |
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Term
| KAA (Forensic Entomology) |
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Definition
| Protein fixative, will also kill adult & larval species; causes specimens to become too brittle so from death-12 hours, transfer specimens to 95% ethanol - preserves specimen & is advantageous for potential DNA/toxicology testing |
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Term
| Submission to Forensic Entomologist |
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Definition
| Vials containing specimens w/ labels; live containers of maggots, largest maggots, migrating maggots, puparium & hatched eggs w/ notes; soil samples; photos/videos; sketch of body & location of samples found on body; scene data sheet; evidence inventory of insects; notations of specimens transferred to 95% ethanol & data concerning specimens that were reared |
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