Can Mites Be Used to Determine Post-Mortem Interval Months After a Death?

Sophia Dibbini

http://www.forensicmag.com/articles/2016/01/can-mites-be-used-determine-post-mortem-interval-months-after-death

Augenstein, Seth. "Can Mites Be Used to Determine Post-Mortem Interval Months After a Death?" Forensic Magazine. N.p., 6 Jan. 2016. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.

I read the article “Can Mites Be Used to Determine Post-Mortem Interval Months After a Death?” by Seth Augenstein and learned about the study of forensic entomology. For many years, investigators have been using the consistency of insect growth on human remains to help them determine time of death. Flies are the most common type of bugs that are used because they leave eggs on and around the corpse. But mites that are present on the decomposing remains are usually an overlooked indicator of time of death. As of recently, investigations have been put forth to test to see if mites could be used to determine postmortem interval months, or even years, after a death. An unidentified researcher supports this idea and states, “Little attention has been paid to the utility of mites despite the fact that they may represent the first and/or final ecological seres (waves) association with carrion decomposition due to the success associated with blow fly biology in (time of death) estimation.” Mites are very small and hard to notice, which makes them harder to work with. In an investigation carried out by Meaghan Pimsler, three bodies were found in Harris County in February 2015, and investigators attempted to determine the time of death of all three bodies. Two of the bodies were found in a closed off room, while the other body was found with a window open. The scientists found mites on all three bodies, and they tracked the weather conditions and the temperature in the residences where the deceased were found. Entomologists found that the mite growth could be a parallel that would supplement the fly work, and make postmortem interval more accurate. Other insects have obviously come into play in this investigation, depending on the setting and location of the body. Mites had previously played a vital role in three important cases, but come back into play in this case. “The presence of mites on a resource may have important implication to the forensic entomologist, as the mites can arrive early in decomposition and potentially prey on eggs and larvae of primary colonizers,” concluded the team in the latest study. “The coevolution of mites and their insect hosts has led to a dual succession: as insect species replace each other temporally throughout decomposition, mite species associate with those insects also change over time.” This discovery has significantly changed the process of determining the time of death in forensic science.

The information presented in this article is definitely going to change the methods used in forensic entomology. First, the change to using mites to determine the time of death will affect investigators’ perception on mites and their importance. Also, the mites could be a valuable forensic resource, but major changes would need to be made. "If this is a tool we want to use, we'd want to establish a framework with controlled experiments," Pimsler said. Mites will significantly change forensic entomology because mites can be used to determine postmortem intervals months and even years after the death of a person. This can speed up the process of forensic investigations with more accurate results. Overall, this discovery will significantly change society and forensic science because of its accuracy and dependency.

I really enjoyed reading this article because it represents a significant improvement in forensic entomology. The article had many strengths, one which is the reference to a specific case that marked the change in forensics. The fact that the author referenced to and talked about the case held by Meaghan Pimsler strengthens the article and the information present. Also, it strengthened the article when the author talked about the previous process of using insects to determine the time of death, and showed that it could be better to use mites to determine this. One weakness of the article is the organization. The author skips around from topic to topic, not clearly specifying the change and relation between the topics. Another weakness is that the author does not give background information on the investigation before talking about it. He goes straight into talking about an investigation the reader has never heard of before and expects them to know what it is about. The article would have been better if it was better organized and clearly explained. Despite these weaknesses, I enjoyed the article overall and look forward to hearing about the use of mites in criminal investigations in the future.