FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGYThe Utility of Arthropods in Legal Investigations SECOND EDITION

FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGYThe Utility of Arthropods in Legal Investigations SECOND EDITIONEdited by

Jason H. Byrd & James L. Castner

Boca Raton London New York

CRC Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Cover photo courtesy of Joseph Berger, University of Georgia; bugwood.org. Credited authors hold the copyright for their photographs and illustrations.

CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number: 978-0-8493-9215-3 (Hardback) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.com (http:// www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Forensic entomology : the utility of arthropods in legal investigations / edited by Jason H. Byrd and James L. Castner. -- 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8493-9215-3 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8493-9215-2 (alk. paper) 1. Forensic entomology. 2. Arthropoda--Miscellanea. 3. Postmortem changes. 4. Death--Time of. I. Byrd, Jason H. II. Castner, James L. III. Title. RA1063.45.F67 2009 614.17--dc22 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com 2008035462

In Memoriam

Chester Lamar Meek January 16, 1944June 27, 2002Photograph courtesy of e Advocate.

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In Memoriam

C. Lamar Meek19442002

Photo courtesy of LSU Today

In 1975, with his newly minted PhD in entomology from Texas A&M University, Dr. Lamar Meek began his career as an assistant professor at Louisiana State University. By 1983 he was a full professor, with his research focusing mainly on mosquito control and the diseases mosquitoes may carry, such as encephalitis. Over the years he became renowned in his field. Cooperating with like researchers from across the country, he authored or coauthored more than 125 papers on medical entomology topics that included biology, ecology, and chemical and biologic resistance to insecticides, as well as many others. However, by the mid-1980s Dr. Meek had found another interest: forensic entomology. As a pioneer in forensic entomology who influenced countless entomology and anthropology graduate students, he was a legend to his followers. His graduate-level forensic entomology course was always full, even as he challenged his students to immerse themselves in data collection, a task they did not fully appreciate until he charged them with sampling larvae from all natural and artificial orifices of the carcasses he used for class. This kind and gentle man, whom I always called Lamar, never raised his voice once to anyone in my presence in all the 17 years I knew him. Throughout those 17 years I frequently would seek his advice in trying to determine time since death for countless forensic cases. Lamar cautioned others that his work with insects in such settings was to figure out the biological clock, not necessarily the time since death. That clock represented the time of insect activity on a body, or the period of time the body had been available to the insects. Sometimes we would go to a scene together; sometimes he would simply meet me there. He was always considerate and respectful of the dead, always asking my opinion, and always educating. The first time in my lab when he saw the larvae of a hairy maggot blow fly, years before that particular species had made its way north to Tennessee and beyond, he commented, Oh, its here now, as he gingerly pointed out the spiny little maggot that reminded me of a caterpillar in my navet. Lamar asked me if I knew what it wasI had not a clue. I knew it looked different from the other larvae we plopped into jars

In Memoriam

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of alcohol or placed in canisters for subsequent rearing. I knew I did not want to pick it up. Soon, as he explained, I knew it was one of those hitchhikers of the universe who unwittingly had made its way to North America, not unlike the fire ant and kudzu before it. He further explained how important it was to record the hairy maggots presence at a death scene because it could skew the estimate of time since death by cannibalizing the other species larvae. It was Lamar who showed me how insect succession might be delayed on a corpse in the trunk of a car, but how ingenious the blow flies were ultimately at getting into the vehicle, laying their eggs, going through the various instars, and burrowing under the carpet in the rear of the car to complete their development during the pupation stage. It was Lamar who determined that the dark, crusty, lifeless maggot that appeared to be burned when I found it on a human body in a burned-out car really was just completely enveloped in dried human body fluids. If it had been burned, we both knew it could suggest that the car had not been set on fire until sometime after death, after the larvae had time to be present on the body. Over the years, we worked side by side on cases as he focused in one area of forensics and I in another in a science that ultimately would capture the attention of a worldwide audience. In forensic entomology he published more than twenty papers and a book chapter on necrophilous arthropods in death investigations of both humans and wildlife species. Though he enjoyed forensic entomology, he continued his teaching and research in medical and veterinary entomology. His awards and honors in that area were numerous and included the 1991 American Mosquito Control Association Memorial Lectureship Award, the 1989 Hathaway-Ridder Distinguished Achievement Award from the Louisiana Mosquito Control Association, the 1987 Outstanding Award in MedicalVeterinary Entomology from the American Registry of Professional Entomologists, and the 1986 Meritorious Service Award from the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA). He was also a member of various local, regional, and national professional societies, which included the Louisiana Mosquito Control Association (LMCA), the Louisiana Entomological Society, the Entomological Society of America, the Texas Mosquito Control Association, the American Registry of Professional Entomologists, and the Society of Vector Ecology. He served on the governing board of the Entomology Society of America, on the board of directors of the LMCA, as treasurer of AMCA, and as past president of both the LMCA and the Louisiana Entomology Society. Lamar was loved and admired by everyone who knew him, especially his students. He graduated nine MS students and seven PhDs in his all too brief career. Today, they continue his legacy as they work in a variety of research and applied positions. Lamar died on June 27, 2002, from a heart attack he experienced while collecting mosquito control data in Mississippi. He was 58. To continue the legacy of Dr. Meek and his dedication to forensic and medical and veterinary entomology, Louisiana State University and family members have established a scholarship in his name, the Lamar Meek Graduate Student Memorial Fund. His family, students, and many others, like me, remember him with great respect and love, and sorely miss his counsel. Mary H. Manhein Director Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services Laboratory Louisiana State University

Foreword

Insects and arachnids are found in almost all conceivable habitats worldwide. They are abundant, widely distributed, and occupy all places of human inhabitation on planet Earth, and as such they are often associated with our daily activities. Insects are the largest group of organisms: one-half to almost two-thirds of global biodiversity estimated to be 10 million species (