Standard Practices and Guidelines in Forensic Entomology

Abstract

The importance of forensic entomology and the use of insects and other arthropods in forensic investigations has increased in forensic investigations. To ensure their optimal use by forensic investigators, it was necessary to have a general framework of standard practices and guidelines that could be defensible in court. Therefore, the Arab Scientific Working Group for Forensic Entomology has developed a document (protocol) for the best practices in forensic entomology. This includes definitions of key terms and a detailed description of the methods and tools used to collect insect evidence. In addition, it introduced a brief introduction on the most important methods for estimating the minimum post mortem interval, analysis of insect data, description of insect succession models on the bodies, weather data at the crime scene, methods of breeding insects in vitro, identification of the most important animal models in experiments, methods of morohological and molecular identification of carrion insects, entomotoxicology, records and reports of cases using carrion insects and forensic entomologist qualities, as well as quality assurance standards and accreditation standards for standard practices. This article is generally aimed to achieve a high level of competence in forensic entomology.