by Stephanie Croston
     If you're a fan of any version of CSI, you've seen them hard at work. The scientists on the shows analyze what they have to say and use it to help solve crimes.
     No, they're not the "lab rats," those investigators who spend most of their time in the lab. They're the bugs-those multi-legged creatures that arrive on scene before any human ever does.
     Tim Huntington, a 2002 graduate of Concordia University and 2005 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is one of those investigators who analyze insect activity at a crime scene. He talked about how bugs can help solve a crime during a program at the Seward Memorial Library Sept. 10.
     "It's a bizarre topic," he said.
     Huntington is the youngest forensic entomologist in the world.
     "It's a small niche. There are only 15 members," he said.
     He has worked around the world, including a case in Australia, he said. In Nebraska, he has consulted on 21 cases since 2002.
     "I would do it for free because it is so interesting," Huntington said. "If you have the equipment, you can do it anywhere."
     Forensic investigation hasn't always been glamorous. In fact, he said, "before O.J. Simpson, there was not much publicity for forensics. Now it's everywhere."
     Forensic entomology is not a glamorous line of work, however, he said. He told the crowd of approximately 75 people that he had spent part of the day dumpster diving.
     Investigators at a crime scene may collect seven different types of forensic evidence:
     • ballistics-things that come from firearms, bullets and related equipment;
     • fingerprints;
     • bite marks;
     • blood spatter;
     • DNA;
     • trace-a catch-all for evidence that can't be easily classified; and
     • insects.
     "Insects are an important piece of evidence in certain crimes," Huntington said.
     The first documented use of forensic entomology to solve a crime was recorded in China around 1035, he said. In that case, a farmer was killed with a sickle. A traveling death investigator came to the town and had all those who owned sickles bring them to the town square and leave them in the sun. After a time, the flies congregated on one sickle where they could sense blood and tissue.
     Forensic investigations became more common in the 1970s and 1980s, Huntington said.
     When it comes to insects, however, investigators deal with "the most numerous and diverse animal on the planet," he said.
     Insects comprise 81 percent of the planet's animal life. In contrast, vertebrates like humans total only three percent, he said.
     "Bugs inhabit every habitat. They're everywhere," Huntington said. "They affect our lives and deaths daily."
     When a creature dies, the insects go to work. Not only do they eat the body, but they also use it as a nursery for their offspring. Predatory insects see a corpse as a buffet, and the body becomes shelter for bugs.
     The kinds of insects on a body can provide a wealth of information for investigators. Flies, especially blowflies, are found on corpses 99 percent of the time, Huntington said.
     "Their sole purpose is to eat dead things," he said.
     Beetles may also be found on a body, but "they are not that useful from a forensic standpoint," he said.
     Insects are pretty accurate, Huntington said. They can tell the time of death 99.9 percent of the time, where the death happened, how it happened, point to a suspect sometimes and "all kinds of neat stuff," he said. "You never know 'til you look."
     There's usually some time between death and the discovery of the body, which is known as the post-mortem interval or PMI. The stage of decomposition, or the process of being eaten, often helps determine when death happened.
     There are five stages of decomposition-fresh, bloat, active decay, advanced decay and remains, Huntington said. Fresh is what you'd see at a funeral, he said. Bacteria in the body then cause bloating, which is when investigators often find adult insect activity.
     Active decay is when investigators see the most maggot activity, Huntington said. It happens after a bloated body pops.
     "You definitely hear it when a body pops," Huntington said. "And it doesn't smell so good."
     Advanced decay finds a body "a gooey mass of bones," he said.
     The remains are just the skeleton, he said. It's also known as the archeological stage.
     Once a body gets past the bloat stage, decomposition depends on insects. Without insects, he said, the body would become a mummy or turn into wax, depending on the climate.
     Forensic pathology is most accurate in determining PMI within the first 24 to 48 hours. Anything after that, Huntington said, is a guess. Pathologists base their estimates on three mortises-algor mortis or body cooling, rigor mortis or muscle stiffness and livor mortis or blood pooling and separation.
     On shows like CSI, the medical examiner usually takes the body's temperature by sticking a thermometer into the liver. Huntington said that doesn't happen in real life, mainly because it can disrupt evidence.
     Rigor mortis is a misunderstood process, he said.
     "When you die, your muscles don't contract. They just stiffen," Huntington said. "You won't sit up in your casket. It's a temperature dependent function."
     Livor mortis can help show investigators if a body has been moved based on where blood has pooled in veins and arteries.
     Although decomposition may help set the time of death, it's not always accurate, Huntington said. For example, a body in a warmer location will decompose faster than one in a cooler location.
     Forensic entomology is a more accurate way to determine when a person or animal died. Huntington said insects usually infest a body within minutes after death.
     "The fastest I've ever seen was 13 seconds," he said.
     Insects develop at predictable rates depending on temperature, he said. The life cycle of the fly includes eggs, three stages of maggots or larva, pupa or cocoon and the fly.
     "They rarely fail to infest an accessible body," Huntington said. "It's very difficult to keep maggots off a body. A female fly can smell a body two miles away."
     Maggots are relatively easy to remove, however, since they don't like sunlight or to be disturbed.
     Insects colonize in a predictable order, as well, although that's not something investigators usually use, he said.
     In addition to learning time of death, investigators may also be able to tell where the person died. Insects differ by habitat, including urban and rural, and region, which is helpful when working on crimes involving transportation, he said.
     Insect infestations are also predictable, he said. They start from the head down, beginning with soft tissue like the eyes, mouth and nose. If they are found in other places, that may indicate an injury, Huntington said.
     Insect damage can be misleading, though, he said. In one case he cited, damage caused by ants mirrored a chemical burn, which led investigators down a false trail.
     Bugs may also help locate a suspect, he said.
     "Most criminals are ignorant. They don't think about bugs," he said.
     Insects that feed on blood may contain a suspect's DNA. Region-specific insects may also help narrow down a suspect pool, as well, he said.
     Insects may help solve animal neglect cases, human abuse cases, including those involving both the elderly and children, and civil cases.
     During the question-and-answer session, many asked about ways to keep bugs off a body. Huntington said that, while freezing a body will deter the bugs, if it's already infested with maggots, the maggots will continue to feed in the cold temperatures.
     When asked about encasing a body in concrete, Huntington said insects may still get into the body.