ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Entomological evidence collection

Have you ever seen bugs crawling around outside? Well, sometimes when police officers or detectives are trying to solve a mystery, they look for bugs or insects to help them figure out what happened. This is called entomological evidence collection.

When a bug lands on a dead body, it can leave behind some clues that can help the detectives figure out how long ago the person died. This is because different bugs are attracted to dead bodies at different stages of decay. For example, flies are usually the first insects to arrive on a dead body, then other bugs like beetles and ants come later as the body decomposes.

To collect entomological evidence, detectives will carefully collect any insects they find on or near the body using tools like tweezers or small nets. They will then carefully label and store the bugs in small containers so that they can be analyzed in a laboratory later.

Scientists in the lab will examine the bugs to figure out what species they are and at what stage of development they were in when they were found. By knowing what kinds of bugs were found and how old they were, they can estimate how long the person has been dead and maybe even figure out other important clues about how they died.

So, in short, entomological evidence collection is when detectives use bugs to help them solve a mystery by collecting and analyzing insect evidence found near or on a dead body.