Potential use of Braconidae (Hymenoptera) in forensic cases

The larvae of small Diptera, such as Phoridae, from forensic cases are frequently identified by rearing out the adults. However, parasitoid Hymenoptera are often obtained instead. Rather than discarding these, it is suggested that, with a knowledge of their durations of development, they can be employed as surrogates for their hosts for estimating a minimum postmortem interval. Some data for a forensically important species of Phoridae parasitized by a species of Braconidae are presented.