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Related Experiment Videos

Low temperature episodes in development of blowflies: implications for postmortem interval estimation.

C Ames1, B Turner

  • 1Department of Life Sciences, King's College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NN, U.K.

Medical and Veterinary Entomology
|June 26, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Accumulated degree hours (ADH) calculations for insect development may be inaccurate. Cold temperatures can decrease ADH, impacting postmortem interval (PMI) estimations, especially in winter.

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Area of Science:

  • Forensic Entomology
  • Insect Physiology
  • Developmental Biology

Background:

  • Insect development is often calculated using accumulated degree days or hours (ADD/ADH) based on a minimum threshold temperature.
  • Fluctuating temperatures, especially cold spells, can interrupt development, leading to periods where development is considered zero.
  • This traditional method has significant implications for estimating the postmortem interval (PMI) using insect development data.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effect of cold temperature interruptions on the accumulated degree hours (ADH) of blowfly larvae.
  • To determine if the traditional minimum threshold temperature concept accurately reflects blowfly development under fluctuating conditions.
  • To assess the reliability of ADH calculations for postmortem interval (PMI) estimations, particularly during cold periods.

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Main Methods:

  • Larvae of Calliphora vicina and C. vomitoria were subjected to normal development at 20°C with intermittent cold episodes.
  • Total development time and accumulated degree hours (ADH) were measured and compared between cold-treated and non-cold-treated groups.
  • Analysis focused on the relationship between temperature fluctuations and ADH accumulation.

Main Results:

  • Contrary to expectations, total ADH decreased linearly with increasing temperature for both blowfly species.
  • No evidence of a minimum threshold temperature effect was observed; development did not cease entirely below a certain point.
  • The study suggests that ADH may continue to accumulate, albeit at a reduced rate, during cold periods, or there's a delay in resuming development.

Conclusions:

  • The traditional use of a minimum temperature threshold for ADD/ADH calculations is questionable for blowfly development.
  • Accumulated degree hours (ADH) calculations for postmortem interval (PMI) estimations have significant shortcomings, particularly during cold weather.
  • Compounded errors in PMI estimations can occur due to the non-linear response of blowfly development to temperature fluctuations.