Ayla T�Z�N, H. Nihal A�IKG�Z Arthropods may exist almost everywhere even in the poles or in the tropics. Their larval and mature forms are fed on organic substances. They leave their eggs on wounds. The larvae are fed on the wounds and thus cause putrefaction of the wounds. Parasite arthropods may exist in the nostrils, sinuses, stomach, bowels, ears, vagina and anus apart from the skin. When larvae enter the digestive system, they live there for a certain period of time and are excreted in the feces. Dipters, a member of arthropods, carry the causative agents of some parasitic diseases such as typhus, sleeping sickness, kalaazar, Oriental sore (Baghdad boil/Aleppo boil) and some diseases caused by helminthes such as elephantiasis. We reviewed the important points requiring caution while collecting larval, pupa, and mature forms of insects on corpses and on the land and the techniques of storage. |
| Collection of Entomological Evidence from Crime Scene and Storage |
| A New Investigation Area in Forensic Sciences: "Entomotoxicology" |
| G�knur AKTAY, H. Nihal A�IKG�Z, �. Hamit HANCI Entomotoxicology is a new investigation area in the forensic sciences. Entomotoxicology studies include the postmortem toxicological analysis of carrion-feeding insects in order to identify drugs and toxins present on intoxicated tissues. In death investigations, Diptera and other arthropods can be reliable alternate specimens for toxicological analyses in the absence of tissues and fluids normally taken for such purposes. Insects can be analysed quite easily after homogenisation by common toxicological procedures such as radio-immune analysis (RIA), gas chromatography (GC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), high pressure liquid-mass chromatography (HPLC-MS) and gas-mass analysis (GC-MS). Entomotoxicology also investigates the effects caused by drugs and toxins on arthropod development in order to assist the forensic postmortem interval estimates. The increase in drug-related deaths (mainly heroin and cocaine) or deaths somehow connected to accidental or suicidal consumption of toxic substances justifies the great interest aroused by this discipline in forensic medicine. In this study, assistance of entomotoxicology to Forensic Sciences were investigated and discussed. |