| In the new millennium, science applied to criminal investigations is paramount since the advent of DNA typing. No longer is guesswork acceptable in the criminal justice system. Numerous sciences have been applied to the methodology of criminal investigations. The scientific study of insects, entomology, has given crime investigators new hope in obtaining the estimation of “time of death.”; In direct relationship to this new approach, criminal investigators have adopted the science of entomology directly into the equation of biological remnants of when the human body may have expired. The equation is to identify the remaining insect classes upon and near the deceased. A constant equation may enhance the estimates of time of death based upon the insect species at the site of infestation. What use to be a sordid by-product of death scenes is now a requirement for the estimation of when life expired.; A quantitative collection and analysis of the species of insects present at the death scene may offer investigators a historical agenda of when the crime occurred. A collection of insect species (blowflies) was taken under controlled conditions within eighteen counties comprising Northwestern Ohio. Five samples were taken from each county and the documentation revealed the presence of a species of blow fly that may be predominant during a particular time of year, under common environmental characteristics. The study revealed the presence of the Green Bottle Blow fly as the “most present” during the research time period. The end results may be beneficial to investigators acquainted with forensic entomological evidence for death investigations. The study duplicated the “fresh body” condition by the utilization of an “attraction bait.” The collection of specimens were reared to the-adult stages and identified. The results were tabulated with Humidity, Ambient temperature, and Attraction time. The results of the study may enable criminal investigators to be prepared to assist the forensic entomologist in his expert role. |
