3rd Edition

Forensic Entomology The Utility of Arthropods in Legal Investigations, Third Edition

Edited By Jason H. Byrd, Jeffery K. Tomberlin Copyright 2020
    620 Pages
    by CRC Press

    620 Pages
    by CRC Press

    Forensic Entomology: The Utility of Arthropods in Legal Investigations, Third Edition continues in the tradition of the two best-selling prior editions and maintains its status as the single-most comprehensive book on Forensic Entomology currently available. It includes current, in-the-field best practices contributed by top professionals in the field who have advanced it through research and fieldwork over the last several decades.

    The use of entomology in crime scene and forensic investigations has never been more prevalent or useful given the work that can be done with entomological evidence. The book recounts briefly the many documented historical applications of forensic entomology over several thousand years. Chapters examine the biological foundations of insect biology and scientific underpinnings of forensic entomology, the principles that govern utilizing insects in legal and criminal investigations. The field today is diverse, both in topics studied, researched and practiced, as is the field of professionals that has expanded throughout the world to become a vital forensic sub-discipline.

    Forensic Entomology, Third Edition celebrates this diversity by including several new chapters by premier experts in the field that covers such emerging topics as wildlife forensic entomology, microbiomes, urban forensic entomology, and larval insect identification, many of which are covered in depth for the first time. The book will be an invaluable reference for investigators, legal professionals, researchers, practicing and aspiring forensic entomologists, and for the many students enrolled in forensic science and entomology university programs.

     

    In Memoriam

    Foreword

    Preface

    Acknowledgments

    Prologue

    Editors

    Contributors

    Introduction: Current Perceptions and Status of Forensic Entomology

    Chapter 1 General Entomology and Basic Arthropod Biology

    Adrienne Brundage

    Chapter 2 Insects of Forensic Importance

    Jason H. Byrd and Jeffery K. Tomberlin

    Chapter 3 Entomological Evidence Collections Methods: American Board of Forensic Entomology Approved Protocols

    Michelle R. Sanford, Jason H. Byrd, Jeffery K. Tomberlin, and John R. Wallace

    Chapter 4 Laboratory-Rearing of Forensic Insects

    Jason H. Byrd and Jeffery K. Tomberlin

    Chapter 5 Factors That Influence Insect Succession on Carrion

    Gail S. Anderson

    Chapter 6 Invertebrate Succession in Natural Terrestrial Environments

    Philip S. Barton, Melanie S. Archer, Maria-Martina Quaggiotto, and James F. Wallman

    Chapter 7 The Role of Aquatic Organisms in Forensic Investigations

    John R. Wallace and Richard W. Merritt

    Chapter 8 Recovering Buried Bodies and Surface Scatter: The Associated Anthropological, Botanical, and

    Entomological Evidence

    Heather A. Walsh-Haney, Alison Galloway, and Jason H. Byrd

    Chapter 9 Estimating the Postmortem Interval

    Jeffrey D. Wells and Lynn R. LaMotte

    Chapter 10 Insect Development as It Relates to Forensic Entomology

    Aaron M. Tarone and Joshua B. Benoit

    Chapter 11 Molecular Genetic Methods for Forensic Entomology

    Jamie R. Stevens, Christine J. Picard, and Jeffrey D. Wells

    Chapter 12 The Soil Environment and Forensic Entomology

    Sasha C. Voss, Shari L. Forbes, and Ian R. Dadour

    Chapter 13 Advances in Entomotoxicology: Weaknesses and Strengths

    Carlo P. Campobasso, Valentina Bugelli, Anna Carfora, Renata Borriello, and Martin Villet

    Chapter 14 Is PMI the Hypothesis or the Null Hypothesis?

    Michelle R. Sanford and Aaron M. Tarone

    Chapter 15 The Forensic Entomologist as Expert Witness

    Robert D. Hall

    Chapter 16 Livestock Entomology

    Justin Talley and Erika Machtinger

    Chapter 17 Ecological Theory of Community Assembly and Its Application in Forensic Entomology

    Sherah L. VanLaerhoven

    Chapter 18 Forensic Meteorology: The Science of Applying Weather Observations to Civil and Criminal Litigation

    John R. Scala and John R. Wallace

    Chapter 19 Entomological Alteration of Bloodstain Evidence

    M. Anderson Parker, Stacey L. Sneider, Shayne A. Smithey, Mark Benecke, and Jason H. Byrd

    Chapter 20 Keys to the Genera and Species of Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of America, North of Mexico

    Terry Whitworth

    Chapter 21 The Use of Entomological Evidence in Analyzing Cases of Neglect and Abuse in Humans and Animals

    Gail S. Anderson

    Chapter 22 Acarology in Crimino-Legal Investigations: The Human Acarofauna During Life and Death

    M. Alejandra Perotti and Henk R. Braig

    Chapter 23 Wildlife Forensic Entomology

    Gail S. Anderson and Jason H. Byrd

    Chapter 24 The Role of Decomposition Volatile Organic Compounds in Chemical Ecology

    Hélène N. LeBlanc, Katelynn A. Perrault, and Julie Ly

    Chapter 25 Forensic Entomology and the Microbiome

    M. Eric Benbow and Jennifer L. Pechal

    Chapter 26 Urban Entomology

    Robert T. Puckett and Jeffery K. Tomberlin

    Chapter 27 Larvae of the North American Calyptratae Flies of Forensic Importance

    Krzysztof Szpila and Andrzej Grzywacz

    Chapter 28 The Professional History of Forensic Entomology

    M. Denise Gemmellaro and Lauren M. Weidner

    Chapter 29 Practical Considerations for Teaching Forensic Entomology

    Elizabeth Butin, David Rivers, and John R. Wallace

    Biography

    Dr. Jason H. Byrd, PhD, D-ABFE, is a board-certified forensic entomologist and diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Entomology. He is the current vice president of the American Board of Forensic Entomology, and the current president of the North American Forensic Entomology Association. He is the first person to be elected president of both professional North American forensic entomology associations. Dr. Byrd is a bureau chief with the Florida Division of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and he serves as the associate director of the William R. Maples Center for Forensic Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine. At the University of Florida, he instructs courses in forensic science at the University of Florida’s nationally recognized Hume Honors College. He is also a faculty member of the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine. Outside of academics Dr. Byrd serves as an administrative officer within the National Disaster Medical System, Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, Region IV. He also serves as the logistics chief for the Florida Emergency Mortuary Operations Response System. Currently he serves as a subject editor for the Journal of Medical Entomology. He has published numerous scientific articles on the use and application of entomological evidence in legal investigations. Dr. Byrd has combined his formal academic training in entomology and forensic science to serve as a consultant and educator in both criminal and civil legal investigations throughout the United States and internationally. Dr. Byrd specializes in the education of law enforcement officials, medical examiners, coroners, attorneys, and other death investigators on the use and applicability of arthropods in legal investigations. His research efforts have focused on the development and behavior of insects that have forensic importance, and he has over 15 years experience in the collection and analysis of entomological evidence. Dr. Byrd is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

    Dr. Jeffery Keith Tomberlin is an associate professor and co-director of the Forensic & Investigative Sciences Program and principal investigator of the Forensic Laboratory for Investigative Entomological Sciences (FLIES) facility at Texas A&M University. Research in the FLIES facility examines species interactions on ephemeral resources such as vertebrate carrion, decomposing plant material, and animal wastes to better understand the mechanisms regulating arthropod behavior related to arrival, colonization, and succession patterns. His research is also focused on waste management in confined animal facilities and the production of alternate protein sources for use as livestock, poultry, and aquaculture feed.