Description:

On May 13, a suitcase was found in the grass beside the road in a village and town of a city, with a highly corrupt female body inside. A small number of maggots and pupae of different sizes were attached to the mesh lining of the suitcase and the surface of the corpse. Among them, the dark old pupae of the black gadfly, the pupae and empty pupa shell of the flea fly, the larvae and pupae of the toilet fly were seen. The adult black soldier fly found in the suitcase was enclosed by the mesh, and it could be inferred that the larvae could enter the mesh through the gaps due to their rapidness and light-avoidance in the previous generation when laying eggs or larvae. After the larvae grow larger and adult, they cannot fly out of the mesh due to their size exceeding the gap they originally entered. It can thus be assumed that the adult black soldier fly found in the mesh has developed for at least one generation. After emergence, the adult worms only drink water and do not eat, and mainly rely on the fat stored in their bodies to maintain life. They can live in the wild for 10-14 days. In this case, the adult worms were found to be dead, based on which it can be assumed that the pupae hatched into adult worms at the latest about May 3. According to Shaphan Yong Chia et al., the minimum post-mortem interval was calculated by using the developmental starting temperature and effective accumulated temperature of each developmental stage of the black soldier fly, and it was speculated that the egg development of the black soldier fly began before February 15. The black soldier flies generally arrive at the site and lay eggs in the late stage of decomposition and debris stage (about 1 month after death). Therefore, the time of death of the deceased was estimated to be before January 15. Combined with the time of death and other investigative clues, the police believe that the boyfriend of the deceased has a major suspect and arrested him. According to the suspect, the time of the crime was January 5 of the same year, he killed the dead and dumped the body in a suitcase.

Gallery

Species	Taxonomy	Accession Number
Hermetia illucens

Reference:

1.马成栋,马孟云,廖信彪.应用黑水虻生长发育规律推断死亡时间1例[J].广东公安科技,2021,29(02):57-58.