[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-263579-105":53,"doc-detail-263579-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","science-in-school-issue-2-summer-2006","Science in School - Issue 2 - Summer 2006","","Forensic entomology applies the biology of insects and other arthropods to legal investigations, focusing on estimating the minimum time since death (PMI). By identifying the age of insects on a corpse—especially blowflies—investigators can derive a minimum PMI when medical evidence may only allow broad estimates. The method relies on assumptions about colonisation timing and must account for temperature, heat from larvae, food sources, toxins, and burial conditions that alter development rates.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":26,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/posters/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/science-in-school-issue-2-summer-2006/263579/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/science-in-school-issue-2-summer-2006/263579.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Stanley","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-16","2026-09-14",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":9},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"What does forensic entomology study in legal cases?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"It studies insects and other arthropods in a legal context. A central application is estimating the minimum time since death (minimum PMI) from evidence on a body.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How do blowflies help determine minimum PMI?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"Blowflies are often among the first insects to colonise a body, sometimes within hours. Because their age is closely linked to when eggs were laid and larvae developed, the oldest blowflies provide the most accurate PMI evidence.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What factors can affect the development rate of insects used for PMI estimates?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"Ambient temperature, heat produced by the maggot mass, food source type, contaminants and toxins, and burial or obstructions can all change development rates. Limited information for these factors can complicate PMI estimation.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},263579,1792164558,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":25,"category_name":26,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":9,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":47,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":139,"read_time":73},2336477405376,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Science topics  \nForensic entomology  \nAre you a biologist with a mission? Do you want to fight crime with science? Martin Hall and Amoret Brandt from The Natural History Museum in London, UK, introduce the fascinating (and smelly) field of forensic entomology.  \nForensic entomology is the study  \nof insects and other arthropods ina legal context. The applications are wide-ranging, but the most frequent is to determine the minimum time since death (minimum post-mortem interval, or PMI) in suspicious death investigations. This is done by identifying the age of the insects present on a human corpse, which can provide a relatively precise estimate in circumstances where pathologists may only be able to give a broad approximation. The fundamental assumption is that the body has not been dead for longer than it took the insects to arrive at the corpse and develop. Thus, the age of the oldest insects on the body determines the minimum PMI.  \nFemale (left) and male (right) adults of the common bluebottle blowfly, Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae)  \nTwo examples of this are:  \n1. A body discovered in the summer in southern England had suffered extensive burns, making the pathologist’s interpretation of the conventional post-mortem changes in the body very difficult. Ageing the blowfly larvae on the body indicated that the first fly  \neggs had been laid on the body six days before. Witnesses subsequently testified that the fatal fire was observed on the night before the estimated day of egg-laying.  \n2. A body discovered in late winter in northern England was well preserved because of the cold temperatures, and pathological evidence  \n[www.scienceinschool.org](www.scienceinschool.org)  \nScience in School  \nIssue 2 : Summer 2006  \n49  \nLife cycle of a calliphorid fly (clockwise from bottom left): adults, eggs, first instar larvae, second instar larvae, third instar larvae, puparia containing pupae  \nsuggested that the person had died two to three weeks before. In contrast, insect evidence suggested that the person had died more than two months before the body was discovered. This was consistent with other evidence and was accepted by the coroner’s court.  \nThe insects of greatest value to forensic entomology are blowflies (family Calliphoridae), because they are usually the first insects to colonisea body after death, often within hours. Because of this, the age of the oldest blowflies gives the most accurate evidence of the PMI. Many other species of fly, beetle, wasp and moth are also associated with cadavers, resulting in a succession of insects arriving at the body, but as they tend to arrive after the blowflies, they are less useful in establishing a PMI.  \nBlowfly infestations of human bodies are a natural outcome of the flies’role in the environment as primary decomposers. The ubiquity of fly larvae on carrion is clear to anyone who comes across the dead body of a hedgehog or rabbit while walking in the country. The larval infestations might look gruesome, but they are a vital component of the natural recycling of organic matter and, on human bodies, they can provide vital clues to the timing and cause of death.  \nAdult blowflies are well adapted to sensing and locating the sources of odours of decay, so cadavers are quickly found. Eggs are usually laid in the natural orifices (e.g. eyes, nose, mouth, ears) or other dark and moist places, such as the folds of clothes or just under the body. Eggs hatch into first instar larvae that grow rapidly, moulting twice to pass through second and third instars until they finish feeding. Depending on the species, they pupate on the body or move away to find a suitable site. They may move many metres before burrowing into the soil or under objects such as rocks and logs or, if indoors, under carpets and furniture. The larva then contracts and the cuticle hardens and darkens to form the barrel-shaped puparium, within which the pupa metamorphoses into an adult fly. When the fly emerges","cbCaicW09lwK4QKy","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicW09lwK4QKy","pdf",214528,"English","# Forensic entomology\n## Minimum PMI estimation\n## Insect succession after death\n## Fly life cycle and development rate\n## Complicating factors in PMI calculation","[{\"question\":\"What does forensic entomology study in legal cases?\",\"answer\":\"It studies insects and other arthropods in a legal context. A central application is estimating the minimum time since death (minimum PMI) from evidence on a body.\"},{\"question\":\"How do blowflies help determine minimum PMI?\",\"answer\":\"Blowflies are often among the first insects to colonise a body, sometimes within hours. Because their age is closely linked to when eggs were laid and larvae developed, the oldest blowflies provide the most accurate PMI evidence.\"},{\"question\":\"What factors can affect the development rate of insects used for PMI estimates?\",\"answer\":\"Ambient temperature, heat produced by the maggot mass, food source type, contaminants and toxins, and burial or obstructions can all change development rates. Limited information for these factors can complicate PMI estimation.\"}]","Science in School - Issue 2 - Summer 2006 | PDF",1789372090]