Use of Dermestidae in the Cleaning of Corpses: A Review

Walkis Ragnarsdottir^*
*Correspondence: Walkis Ragnarsdottir, Department of Forensics, University of Akala, Akala, India, Tel: 831892832043, Email:

Keywords

Dermestidae • Necrophagous • Skeleton • Forensic • Investigation

Introduction

This article discusses the use of insects in forensic science as a means of cleaning corpses found in specific conditions. The cleaning of corpses for subsequent anthropological analysis has been a challenge to overcome in many forensic laboratories, so research into new techniques is crucial to improve the resolution of cases without damaging existing evidence.

Numerous different techniques are now used to carry out this task so that evidence left behind by the perpetrator is not lost or tampered with in the process.

Case Presentation

On Thursday 2 July, a 38-year-old man was found dead in his home by his partner. The victim's husband had been away from home for a week, as he was attending a conference out of town, and when he arrived home, he found the body lying on the living room rug. There were no signs of violence in the house and the lock was not forced, so a possible assault or robbery could be ruled out.

The victim was on the floor, close to a window through which sunlight entered most of the day, which meant that the temperature in the house was close to 30ºC for a long period of time. These conditions, and the fact that the air conditioning was turned on at a temperature of 25ºC, favored the mummification process of the corpse, although the process was not completed. The mummification process was also possible due to the complexion and cause of death of the victim [1].

The subject was a white individual of slim build. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy determined the cause of death to be a blunt force trauma to the parietal region which resulted in the loss of a great amount of blood.

In order to study the contusion, it was necessary to remove the tissues adhering to the skull, and for this purpose several techniques were considered, which will be discussed later.

The forensic investigation revealed that the victim suffered from narcolepsy and suffered a seizure while he was alone at home, which caused him to fall suddenly and hit his head on the top of the living room table, causing a contusion that resulted in severe hemorrhaging and bleeding to death.

Discussion

Numerous techniques can be used in the laboratory to remove epithelial and muscle tissues from bone, one of the most common is to macerate the corpse in an aqueous medium and wait for the bacteria to decompose it completely [2].

Although this is the most used technique, this review proposes a less abrasive and faster way to separate the bones from the remaining tissues. Dermestidae luciferia is an arthropod of the beetle family that has a great appetite for decaying flesh, especially in its adult stage and during the development of its larvae in the summer months, specifically in July and August.

Species of the same genus are already used in some natural history museums and perform a similar function, but with some notable disadvantages compared to the species presented in this article [3].

The advantages of D. luciferia over other species is that they are very efficient at room temperature, so it is not necessary to have a specific acclimatized room for them to live and eat. Under these conditions the arthropod is unable to fly, so there is less risk of it escaping from the controlled area and infesting other corpses or food sources in the laboratory (Figure 1).

Furthermore, it has been proven that chelicerae do not leave marks on the bone, which is a great advantage in forensic investigations, as marks and evidence can be analyzed on the skeleton without external alterations hindering the investigation process [4,5].

The condition of the body described above facilitated the action of the insects and made it possible to clean the bones quickly and efficiently [6,7].

Conclusion

The study of the skeletal remains of a corpse involves a preliminary cleaning phase, for which numerous options are available. The use of D. luciferia in the laboratory as a method of separating epithelial and muscular skeletal tissues offers highly satisfactory results compared to other methods. In the case reported in this article, arthropods are favored as a cleaning method due to the condition of the tissues.

References

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