6 FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY CASES - DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTARY

Insects are known to be useful in estimating the postmortem interval ( PMI). Here several cases are reported which show that a wide range of applications in medicolegal questions and hygiene together or apart fr om estimating the PMI can be answered by use of forensic entomology te chniques, including dose observation of larval development. Case 1 des cribes how blowfly larvae fell from a putrefied corpse, hid, and final ly emerged from pupae three months after disinfection and renovation. In case 2, the entomological state of the decomposed corpse of a heroi n user is described. Case 3 deals with a single adult Protophormia ter ranovae found in the skull of a partially mummified woman. Case 4 repo rts the finding of Serratia marcescens bacteria in red Muscina stabula ns pupae which were found on a 5-day-old corpse. In case 5, blowfly eg gs on the corpse of another heroin user are interpreted as an indicati on of the decedent being laid outside at night after his death in a fl at. Case 6 deals with the finding of Parasarcophaga argyrostoma, which in Cologne might be an indicator species which tells if a corpse was lying outside at least for some time.