NCJ Number
142998
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 38 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1993) Pages: 702-707
Date Published
1993
Length
6 pages
Annotation
To evaluate a new method of determining estimates of maggot age in forensic cases, the length of maggots of known age, at peak of feeding, was measured after five days immersion in one of 15 killing and preservation solutions, some of which are routinely used at autopsy and in forensic entomology; control maggots were killed in boiling water.
Abstract
Maggots immersed in all solutions shrunk in length; as a result, there was an underage error of 9.7 hours in 70 percent ethanol, 11 hours in San Veino, and 16.8 hours in formalin. Larvae of various species underwent greater shrinkage, leading to higher underage errors. The control maggots, killed in boiling water and then placed in preservative solutions, did not shrink. However, the solutions did not alter length of the maggot crop, useful in age estimates of postfeeding larvae. The results highlighted the need for standard procedures in treating maggots found at a crime scene and at autopsy in order to interpret their length in a valid and consistent way. The authors suggest that criminal investigators, medical examiners, and forensic scientists use boiling water as a standard killing solution and then preserve maggots in a 70- percent ethanol solution. 5 tables and 10 notes