Maggot Aggregation
Student Name: Arjun Chandra. UCD Department: Entomology. UCD Mentor: Dr. Bob Kimsey.
The presence of certain insects, such as maggots, that are found
at a crime scene are useful in determining the time of a person’s
death. Currently, when forensic entomologists collect insect
samples from crime scenes, they collect only a few samples since
they assume that the sample sizes accurately represent how other
insects are spread throughout the decedent. Thus, if Arjun
Chandra’s research demonstrates that maggots aggregate themselves
based upon species lines, forensic entomologists would have to
change the way in which they collect insect samples from crime
scenes.
