The Bugs That Decompose Bodies and Help Solve CSI Secrets
Oct. 29, 2014 - A dead body plays host to a whole ecosystem of insects that help to decompose the body and return it to nature. By knowing the life cycles of these insects--from flies to maggots to beetles--forensic entomologists can help in crime scene investigations. And they can get a firsthand look at the decomposition process by visiting a body farm like this one in Texas.
Click here to read more about maggots and forensic entomology
Transcript
The following video contains graphic images of animal and human remains. Viewer discretion is advised.
Jeff Tomberlin
Co-Director - Forensic and Investigative Sciences, Texas A&M University:
When you look at an animal, from afar you say, ‘well, it’s no longer alive.’ And on some level you’re right, that animal is not alive. But on a different level, it’s very much alive. The microbes that are present in your body, begin to consume the tissue. So technically there is still life associated with the structure that you see in front of you.
Entomology is the study of insects and their relatives. Forensics is anything dealing with the court of law. Obviously, forensic entomology is insects dealing with human matters, such as determining when someone died, or how long someone might have been colonized while they were alive.
My research focuses on the decomposition process. And I’m able to apply that in a lot of different areas, but one area where I’ve specialized is how to understand how things decompose and then apply that information in criminal investigations, to determine how long an individual may have been dead or colonized by these insects.
Daniel Wescott
Director - Forensic Anthropology Center, Texas State University:
We have a willed-body donation program, and so we usually get between about five to six bodies per month that are donated to us. And there they are put out and allowed to decay and we monitor that decay process.
Jeff Tomberlin
Co-Director - Forensic and Investigative Sciences, Texas A&M University:
Over time the insect community that’s present on the body will change. What we see initially are the flies that come in, they will colonize the body and what we see is that they come in and lay their eggs, or larvae, in different orifices of the body - the nose, the mouth, the ears, the genital area. They will initiate the consumption of the body.
And what we see from there is beetle species will come in. Now these beetles will feed on the body, they may feed on the larvae, and the beetles are responsible for really cleaning up the remains at the end.
Daniel Wescott
Director - Forensic Anthropology Center, Texas State University:
Once we have this pattern of how things change through time, how the odors change, how the microbes change, which insects are present and not, then we can use this information to estimate the time since death.
Jeff Tomberlin
Co-Director - Forensic and Investigative Sciences, Texas A&M University:
Mother Nature is a very efficient machine. It’s very good about recycling nutrients, and that’s where these insects come in, is that they have evolved to take care of these unpredictable resources in nature. And they have to compete with other insects, other vertebrates, to get to that resource. So they do it very fast.
