Entomology lab reflection by Brian Rego

We started our lab in the beginning of September. On the first day September 8^th we set up a pork shoulder under a protective barrier made out of rocks and a cage type thing for protection from animals. The point of the lab was to observe the decomposition of the pork shoulder and to learn more about forensic entomology through recording and collecting insects that where at the pork shoulder.

On the same day that we first put the pork shoulder down flies immediately found it.  On this day it just looked like a normal pork shoulder and it didn’t smell at all.  On September 10^th the second day that we went to see it the shoulder seemed to be drier, a darker red color and more leathery looking. On this day there were two different types of flies and wasps present at the shoulder. The next day that we went to go see it was the 12^th. On the 12^th the pork shoulder looked a lot drier and it looked like it shrunk a little. The insects present that day were still flies and a lot of maggots.  On September 15^th we could smell the shoulder before we saw it. We could see blackish holes in it and could tell that it was decaying. On this day the insects that were there were flies and maggots. The last day of our lab was September 17^th. On this day it looked and smelt the same as on the 15^th, and the insects at the scene were the same. The only difference was the inside of the pork shoulder had a slimy looking substance created by the maggots.

We used the data we collected at the scene to help determine the Postmortem interval of the pork shoulder.  To find out the PMI we collected maggot samples and we also got the temperature data each day. With this we could figure out what kind of maggot it was and can determine the PMI by using data on that fly to see how long it takes that fly to get to that stage of development under the temperature conditions that we had.  Our data was very similar to the published data.

Forensic Entomology is a very important tool to solving crimes.  The use of forensic entomology makes cases easier to solve and are even the direct cause to solving some cases.  Forensic Entomology is used to figure out the PMI which is the time that has passed since someone has died.  If investigators know the time of death it could help them in their search for the suspect and also cross off some suspects who had alibis. This is why forensic entomology is so important.