Journal Published Online: 01 January 1994
Volume 39, Issue 1

The Black Soldier Fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) As a Potential Measure of Human Postmortem Interval: Observations and Case Histories

CODEN: JFSCAS

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.

Author Information

Lord, WD
Forensic Science Research and Training Center, Laboratory Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Academy, Quantico, VA
Goff, ML
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI
Adkins, TR
Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Haskell, NH
, Rensselear, IN
Pages: 8
Price: $25.00
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Stock #: JFS13587J
ISSN: 0022-1198
DOI: 10.1520/JFS13587J