How much information may be recovered from Insect remains? |
Examine the following scene. 
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| Examine this definition:
Forensics - "The science and practice of examining physical evidence and
applying the physical properties of that evidence to the resolution of legal
issues, particularly identifying the commission, natures, and perpetrators of crimes."
Imagine if you will that this is an image of a crime scene. We wish to determine the identity of the "victim", in this case an insect. How much information is contained in the remains to assist us with our determination? How much do you need to identify an insect to:
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| Before we delve into the solution of our problem, this exercise has a real
purpose. There are people who would rather not collect and kill insects for the
purpose of making a collection to satisfy some academic requirement. To address those
sentiments I have allowed students to collect from such "habitats" as spider webs
and automobile hoods. However, specimens need to have at least enough identifiable
parts to permit determination to Order and family. So here is an example that we
will pursue to see what may be extracted from these remains, using all of the
tools that you either have now or will have at the conclusion of this course.
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