Entomology

Question 1

Name the 2 disciplines of entomology.

Answer 1

1. Forensic entomology
2. Funerary archeoentomology

Question 2

Who demonstrated that maggots came from eggs and not through spontaneous generation?

Answer 2

Francesco Redi

Question 3

What are the 3 fields of entomology?

Answer 3

1. Urban
2. Stored-Product
3. Medico-Legal

Question 4

What can use of insects give insight into in a forensic investigation?

Answer 4

1. PMI estimation
2. Body transfer
3. Cadaver presence
4. DNA
5. Drug or poison presence

Question 5

What is the classification system e.g. kingdom…?

Answer 5

1. Kingdom
2. Phylum
3. Class
4. Order
5. Family
6. Tribe
7. Genus
8. Species

Question 6

Who is known as the father of taxonomy?

Answer 6

Carl Linneaus

Question 7

Define taxonomy.

Answer 7

Biological classification OR rank-based scientific classification

Question 8

Define taxon.

Answer 8

A group of organisms assigned to a specific category

Question 9

What is the phylum that insects belong to?

Answer 9

Anthropoda

Question 10

Define anthropod.

Answer 10

Invertebrate animal with exoskeleton, segmented body and paired jointed appendages

Question 11

Name an example of an anthropod, other than insects.

Answer 11

1. Arachnids
2. Myriapods
3. Crustaceans

Question 12

What are the 2 subclasses of the Insecta class?

Answer 12

1. Pterygota
2. Apterygota

Question 13

What are the 2 groups in the Pterygota subclass?

Answer 13

Exopterygota and endopterygota

Question 14

Describe exopterygota insects.

Answer 14

1. External wing development
2. Egg - Nymph - Adult
3. 16 orders

Question 15

Describe endopterygota insects.

Answer 15

1. Internal wing development
2. Egg - Larva - Pupa - Adult
3. 9 orders

Question 16

What are the 2 groups of the subclass apterygota?

Answer 16

1. Archaeognatha
2. Zygentoma

Question 17

Describe archaeognatha and zyngentoma insects.

Answer 17

Primitive, wingless insects

Question 18

What is the first laying of eggs meant to coincide with?

Answer 18

The point of death

Question 19

What is an example of post-mortem artefacts caused by insects?

Answer 19

Insect feeding marks have been observed to be of similar size, shape and colour to ante-mortem cigarette burns

Question 20

Approximately how far will insects travel for remains?

Answer 20

About 7 km

Question 21

What factors affect cadaver succession?

Answer 21

1. Weather
2. Climate
3. Ground condition
4. Time

Question 22

True or False: Youngest colonising species is used as a marker of initial colonisation.

Answer 22

False, oldest colonising species is used for this

Question 23

What are the 4 types of invertebrates in cadaver succession?

Answer 23

1. Necrophages
2. Omnivores
3. Predators/Parasites
4. Incidentals

Question 24

What are the times associated with the blow fly (Calliphoridae) life cycle?

Answer 24

1. Egg = soon after death (less than 8 hours)
2. Instar 1 = within 23 hours
3. Instar 2 = after 2.5 days
4. Instar 3 = after 4-5 days
5. Pupa = after 18-24 days
6. Adult = after 21-24 days

Question 25

Define poikilothermic.

Answer 25

Internal temperature varies intensely so it is regulated by environment

Question 26

What are the 4 factors that impact the species observed on remains?

Answer 26

1. Social interaction 2. Food availability 3. Seasonality 4. Environmental preferences

Question 27

What is required to know about colonising insects to estimate PMI?

Answer 27

- Species - Developmental stage - Standard development times - Temperature history

Question 28

Define base/effective temperature.

Answer 28

Temperature below which growth and development won't happen

Question 29

Define degree days.

Answer 29

Thermal units representing proportion of environmental energy used by insects

Question 30

Define accumulated degree days.

Answer 30

A given amount of thermal energy required to develop from one stage to the next

Question 31

How does maggot mass influence decomposition?

Answer 31

Increases temperature and attracts other insects (which can slow or increase decomposition rate)

Question 32

How does cocaine and heroin affect larval development?

Answer 32

Increases development

Question 33

How is thermal history estimated?

Answer 33

- Weather station data - Scene data - Body temperature

Question 34

What factors need to be considered when estimating thermal history?

Answer 34

1. Sun effect 2. Site & station discrepancies 3. Clothing/environmental thermal properties 4. Maggot mass

Question 35

When would you expect denaturing of insects?

Answer 35

At very high temperatures above their developmental maximum threshold

Question 36

Define developmental threshold temperature.

Answer 36

Optimum temperature, outside which development stops