Justine's Reflection

This lab began simply with a fleshy pig shoulder but progressed into a great hands on lesson about decomposition. Day one held no surprising occurrences, while day two immediately showed signs of a decomposing change. Certain variables such as location and the temperature of the environment remained very similar if not the same. These constants ensured the data wasn't skewed. Physical changes such as size, color, and smell were collected and noted each day. The meat started off as a bloody red color and then obtained a green tinged look. Larvae and maggots began appearing and soon multiplied, using the deceased pig as their host.  
Entomology is a great tool to use when trying to determine how old a corpse is. Certain bugs and other organisms appear at different times. This forms a time frame for the investigators to figure out just when exactly the victim died.

Forensic Entomology Lab

   Over the course of a few weeks, our young forensic prodigies observed the decomposition rate of an average pig shoulder. During the observation we looked at changes in the skin, the scent it gave off, and the insects  it attracted. 

      Since it was warm outside we knew that the decomposition rate was going to be accelerated. Starting from September 8th we took the fresh pig shoulder and laid it under a cage so it wouldn't be disturbed by animals other than insects. Since it was only the first day we hadn't had much of a spectacle, aside from a single blowfly. The next day the pork had a slight odor and the texture of it had more of a dried and redder look. It had also gathered eggs, from a group of flies. 
      Over time the pork began to shrink and started to darken in color. The maggot mass was getting bigger and the eggs had developed into maggots. The scent was becoming more putrid by the day. We were finding pupa inches away from the shoulder. Eventually the maggots had eaten so much of the shoulder the flesh had collapsed and the flies and other insects had been done with it.
       The project was to observe the PMI of the pork shoulder. Our work was pretty inconsistent with the data from other published data. We had made errors like leaving it out without checking it along with some other variables. If everything had gone accordingly we should've been able to calculate the PMI and got the ADD and ADH. This information would have been applied to a real life scenario such as to figure out the time of death of a victim. 

Lab Reflection

Paola Ginel
October 3, 2014
Advanced Forensics

Lab Reflection

     On September 8, 2014 at 11:57 am we set up a pork shoulder in a cage outside of Tolman just before the river. The purpose of this experiment was to have a greater understanding of forensic entomology and to witness the development of maggots and decomposition. Over the course of two weeks we let nature take its course and went back to the site for collection and.observation. By the end of this course, we will have had our own mock experience as forensic entomologist.

     From day one the pork shoulder commenced its process of decomposition. As the weather and insects affected the shoulder, it began to change in color and smell. At first, the meat was fresh, odorless (aside fron the typical smell of raw meet) and red in color. The next time we visited the site the shoulder had developed a foul smell, that of spoiled meat, and the texture was more of a leather type. Each day we went the pork seemed to lose more color and get darker. The smell had increased incredibly, and was more than detectable.from.a good distance away. Towards.the last few days the smell was intense and the por shoulder had become in color and was completely decomposed and dry.

     Other changes observed were the insects that colonized on and inside the shoulder. As soon as we set the shoulder down, flies were attracted to it almost instantaneously.  Two days later on the 10th, there were still small flies around but there were also larvae on it. We identified some of the flies as Greenbottle and Sheep flies. There were also other insects further on such as news ans wasps.

     As the days progressed we collected the maggots from their maggot mass. They were slimy from the secretion of enzymes that helped break down the proteins in the meat. Each time we went, the maggots had transitioned from one instar to the other until they had migrated away from the body, into the soil and pupatate. The body was left dry, with some maggots still on board, but not as many as originally noted. This tells us, these maggots were laid at different times.

      After collecting all of our data, we then analyzed it and observed the preserved maggots from those couple of weeks. When looking at out data and comparing it to published data we could see that it was consistent. The maggots developed at an adequate rate in correlation to the temperature. They did grow at different time since they weren't all laid at the same time.

     Lastly, the life cycle of insects are always constant which makes entomology such a great tool for crime.solving. Once you identify a particular species, you can look at their life cycle and trace back to when they were colonized. When this is done, it Gives a time frame from the earliest the latest possible time of the crime. This could be the difference between a faulty alibi and someone walking out free.
Q

Maria Hernandez Entomology Lab Reflection

        During the past few weeks as a class we have worked on the decomposition of a pig shoulder. This was an experiment we did to see how a body decomposes and how Forensic Entomology helps police and other crimes scene investigators locate a criminal if their is no type of evidence.

        During the course of the experiment I observed many changes in decomposition. At first the shoulder was obviously fresh with no odor or anything that seem un-normal, then as soon as it was unpacked and placed down on the designated area we had for it, flies started to appear.  My class and I let it sit there until we had class again and when we came back there were very little eggs, few larvae, and blow flies as well. The shoulder was redder, and a little dry. As the shoulder stayed there longer it began to decompose, it was now smelling, dried out, and  it had many maggots all over. Few more days passed by and it just began to turn black and it smelled worse, than all there was left was a bone.

        My development data is kind of off compare to the published data, because I had some temperatures that were off and some minor errors that can probably be fixed. Also my data is not consist with the publish one at any point.

        Forensic Entomology is a very important tool to the crime solving because it helped me and my classmates calculate the time we place the pig shoulder outside. This was based on all the samples of maggots and other bugs that we collected from the shoulder. Sometimes entomology can be hard if there is nothing but bugs and/or maggots because there is a lot to calculate and search. There is a lot to discover as an entomologist.

      

Entomology Lab Reflection

Allison Alcantara

Ms. Connor

Advanced Forensics

October 2, 2014

Entomology Lab Reflection

        On September 8th 2014, my class and I started a lab in order to observe and study the decomposition of a pork shoulder. On the first day there was nothing unusual about the pork shoulder, it was fresh, so we placed it outside and covered it. That first day we only noticed a few flies showing up as soon as we placed it but nothing more. We went back two days later, the pork shoulder was covered with flies, specifically blue bottle flies, bees, and wasps. When we got closer the shoulder seemed dried up and more like leather. No larvae was present. Two days after that, we returned to a foul smell and a lot more flies. The shoulder still looked like leather but was now filled with maggots and flies. When we moved the shoulder you could see the small maggot mass inside it and a saliva looking substance. That day we collected maggots. Three days after that when we returned the smell had gotten a lot worse but there were less flies. We uncovered the shoulder and noticed that most maggots had now moved under it. We also collected maggots that day. Two days later, the smell wasn't as strong and there were barely any flies. The shoulder still looked dried up and leather like but you could now see some of the bone. The maggots still remained under the shoulder and that was the last day we saw it.

The results from my developmental data were very consistent with the published data. We searched the maximum and minimum temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit for the dates we observed the lab. Then we found the average of that and turned it into degrees Celsius. Six degrees were subtracted from the degrees afterwards. For the ADD, or accumulated degree day, we added up the temperatures from the previous days for every day. The results were a bit different due to the fact that we didn't record observations every single day but were very close.

It is amazing to see how similar lab observations can be to published data.

Forensic entomology has helped solve many important cases throughout time. Insects used to be an inconvenience to police offices who were examining bodies. They didn't realize how important these insects actually were until later in time. The life of a blowfly is very predictable and can be used to determine a time of death. Every stage of the insect takes a certain amount of time. When a time of death is determined, it becomes easier to place a suspect or victim on the crime scene. Entomology has helped solve famous cases such as the ken and Barbie killers and the Kevin Neal case. One of the most famous entomologists responsible for spreading awareness about the use of bugs in determining a time of death has been Dr. Neal Haskell. He runs a bug school during the  summer where he teaches law enforcement officials from all over the country about insects and how important they can be. The use of forensic entomology has become a very valuable tool for solving crimes.

Forensic Entomology lab report -Kenzie

       In our forensics class we started an experiment to learn first hand about forensic entomology. On September 8th our class when down by the river and place a fresh pork shoulder on the ground with a cage over it so animals won't interfere. The purpose of this experiment was to learn and observe entomology first hand at the stages of decomposition. Another thing we were observing was how forensic entomologists provide evidence in murder cases.

        Everyday we had class, we went outside an observed the changes that were happening.  The first day of the experiment, we put the pork shoulder outside and immediately insects like blowflies, wasps, hairy maggot flies, and blue bottle flies, were landing on it.  On September 10th the second day we went to go check on it, the we noticed some changes for example the skin started to decompose and inside the wounds we were able to see maggots.  As the days progressed the color of the remains started to change going from pink, to a dark color in stages.  On September 17th we went outside again and there were noting but bone. During the process of this experiment we collected maggots and papas to help us understand entomology even more. 

  With the maggots that we collected over the course of this experiment to calculate the PMI (postmortem interval) meaning the time from death and also to calculate the ADD ( accumulated degree day) and ADH ( accumulated degree hour.) all of our information was very close to the published data

    Forensic Entomology is a very useful and very important in the science word. Forensic Entomology helps in all of the cases that involve bugs. For example it can tell you when the PMI which is really helpful because it allows the detectives to catch whoever is guilty. More police should rely more on forensic entomology to close cases. 

In the entomologylab the insects were all different species of flies, maggots, and pupae. There were examinations that were difficult. The most difficult one was knowing the type of maggots they were. The pupae descriptions were different color reds. the flies had colors that were hard to tell because of the variations of the colors. This lab was testing my visual decisions on what they looked like. This was difficult but fun at the same time. The entomology of the insects was testing limits to solve a case with insects which takes time.