ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 8

The Black Soldier Fly Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) As a Potential Measure of Human Postmortem Interval: Observations and Case Histories
Goff, ML
Professor of Entomology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI

Haskell, NH
Forensic Entomology Consultant, IN

Adkins, TR
Clemson University, SC

Lord, WD
Supervisory Special Agent, Forensic Science Research and Training Center, Laboratory Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Academy, VA

(Received 12 March 1993; accepted 24 June 1993)

Abstract

The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.), has been shown to be a ubiquitous inhabitant of both surface and buried human remains throughout the southern, central and western United States and Hawaii. Unlike most other species of forensically important Diptera, this species frequently dominates bodies in the dry/post decay stage of decomposition. Adults of the black soldier fly appear to initiate oviposition (egg laying) 20 to 30 days postmortem. Even at warm temperatures (27.8°C), subsequent completion of the life cycle can require an additional 55 days. Life history data for H. illucens, when used in combination with data for other cohabiting arthropod species and viewed in the context of local environmental conditions, can provide medicolegal investigators with valuable parameters for estimating the postmortem intervals for badly decomposed remains.

Keywords:
forensic science, forensic entomology, black soldier fly, postmortem interval, diptera, stratiomyidae, insect invasion, time since death

Paper ID: JFS13587J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS13587J
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