Influence of storage on larval length and age determination of the forensically important blow fly Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

One of the main tasks in forensic entomology is the determination of the minimum post-mortem interval (PMImin) based on the age of the juvenile insects feeding and developing on the dead body. An important task is to store the evidence appropriately so that the evaluation and expert report can be used in court. However, existing recommendations can be contradictory or lacking scientific validation, e.g. by proposing various preservation liquids without knowing whether and to what extent the period of storage in such a liquid has an effect on the length of the preserved larvae. Storage time can be an issue since, due to technical and procedural circumstances, killed larvae may be stored for hours, days, weeks or even longer prior length measurement. A changed body length would have consequences for the entomological report, as the age of the larvae is usually derived from their length. This study investigates the effect of four differently concentrated ethanol solutions (70%, 80%, 90% and 96%) during a storage period of up to 196 days on the body length of stored larvae of the forensically important blow fly species L. sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Larvae of different ages (24 h, 48 h and 72 h after hatching) were killed by immersion in hot, non-boiling water (>= 80 degrees C) for at least 30 s. Their lengths were measured immediately. Subsequently samples were stored in ethanol of appropriate concentration at room temperature (approx. 22 degrees C). Further length measurements were made at 16 different storage intervals between 1 and 196 days. Many specimens showed a length decrease for most storage conditions and all larval ages. However, there was a tendency for 48 h- and 72 h-old larvae to increase in length after the first days of storage of up to 1.1 mm which may lead to an erroneous overestimation of the PMImin, using this kind of specimens. All changes in length within each cohort over total time were in the range of +7% to -9.1%. Significant differences in length changes within the first days of storage were found mainly in larvae stored in 70%- and 80%-ethanol, but larvae stored in 90%-and 96%-ethanol showed first significant differences on day 56 at the earliest. Our results lead to the recommendation that the measurements of fly larvae samples should be taken immediately after killing and before storage to avoid any effects. Ethanol >= 90% should be used for storage.