ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the basic ecology of the colonization of dead humans and other vertebrate animals by invertebrates, and the application of this topic to forensic entomology. The physical and chemical transformation of a decaying carcass involves it passing through identifiable stages that attract different insects as decomposition progresses. The major objective of forensically oriented insect succession studies of dead vertebrate animals is to study the colonization patterns of insects in a particular area and produce species lists, data on arrival and departure sequences, timing of peak abundances, and comparative data from different habitats or seasons. A minimum postmortem interval (minPMI) using succession is estimated from the timeline of insect arrival and departure times described by carrion succession studies. Insect succession studies on vertebrate animals, in a range of different habitats, may be able to generate data to potentially estimate the minPMI in death investigations.
