Enhancing Forensic Entomology Applications: Identification and Ecology
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Enhancing forensic entomology applications: identification and ecology A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada © Copyright by Sarah Victoria Louise Langer 2017 Environmental and Life Sciences M.Sc. Graduate Program September 2017 ABSTRACT Enhancing forensic entomology applications: identification and ecology Sarah Victoria Louise Langer The purpose of this thesis is to enhance forensic entomology applications through identifications and ecological research with samples collected in collaboration with the OPP and RCMP across Canada. For this, we focus on blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and present data collected from 2011-2013 from different terrestrial habitats to analyze morphology and species composition. Specifically, these data were used to: 1) enhance and simplify morphological identifications of two commonly caught forensically relevant species; Phormia regina and Protophormia terraenovae, using their frons-width to head- width ratio as an additional identifying feature where we found distinct measurements between species, and 2) to assess habitat specificity for urban and rural landscapes, and the scale of influence on species composition when comparing urban and rural habitats across all locations surveyed where we found an effect of urban habitat on blow fly species composition. These data help refine current forensic entomology applications by adding to the growing knowledge of distinguishing morphological features, and our understanding of habitat use by Canada’s blow fly species which may be used by other researchers or forensic practitioners. Keywords: Calliphoridae, Canada, Forensic Science, Morphology, Cytochrome Oxidase I, Distribution, Urban, Ecology, Entomology, Forensic Entomology ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “Blow flies are among the most familiar of insects. They are the bright bluebottle and greenbottle flies of our childhood days” Hall 1948 I am indebted to the wonderful people around me who have offered their kindness throughout this degree. To my committee whose thoughtful suggestions have shaped this thesis, you have all been very supportive in helping me move forward. Dr. Christopher Kyle, I appreciate your dedication to making this work more robust. Thank you for your thoughtful suggestions and your reminders to consider the “why do we care” questions that relate our work to the applications of forensic science that extending beyond “entomologists will find this exciting!” You’ve made me a better and more focused writer for it. Dr. Dave Beresford, you have a way of creating the most supportive working environment where everyone is just happy to be there and learn about insects! You’ve taught me so much more than entomology, and as a result, I’ve grown as a person. Dr. Joanna Freeland, you have always been so kind to me and I am honoured to have you on my committee. Your thoughtful insights and opinions on this work have been invaluable. I am indebted to every member of my committee for all of their valuable time spent with me. Thank you to the CPRC for funding this work, to my reviewers whose thoughtful suggestions refined my work, and to my external examiner and the chair of my defence for sharing their valuable time with me. Thank you to Mary-Lynn Scriver and Linda Cardwell in the ENLS office whose kindness goes above and beyond for every student and to the staff in the MaDGIC department for their time in helping students with GIS questions. I would also like to thank the researchers whose excitement shine through in iii their publications, especially David Goodsell Hall who started his blow fly key with a beautiful and simple line (quoted above), showing, whether intended or not, that you do not have to leave behind your excitement and love of your topic to produce quality science. Thank you to Mike Illes, this work would not be possible without your ongoing support and excitement for this project. From the beginning, you were key in finding volunteer officers and you have been an invaluable asset to this thesis. You have also been incredibly supportive of me and I appreciate every bit of it. To each officer who took time out of their days to make our research possible, thank you. You all went above and beyond to make this project possible. To my Trentomology lab mates past and present I can’t express how much you all mean to me. Your encouragement and support have made all of the difference. I would especially like to thank John Ringrose for his unwavering encouragement and logic to help me through stressful situations – even long after he had graduated. You have a way of making life seem much less stressful and you’ve kept me sane throughout this degree - “it’s just life, Sarah”. To Scott Larkin who taught me the basics of entomology when I started in the lab and for sharing many laughs with me and Donnie Bourne who is always up for learning something new and lending a hand. I am so thankful for the opportunity to work with Kaitlyn Fleming, Kathryn Vezsenyi and Sherri DeGasparro who are the kindest most wonderful people. Thank you for talking things out with me, providing intelligent ideas and suggestions and your willingness to always support anyone who needs it. Thank you for including me in your adventures and events, I’ve learned so much from you, entomology and otherwise! It has been amazing to work with Giselle Bezanson iv and Jesyka Galasso and to share with them my excitement of all things blow fly! It truly means the world to me to be surrounded by people as excited about insects as I am. Thank you to all students and volunteers in the lab who have come and gone, you have all brightened my days and kept this lab full of laughter and memories! In the Kyle lab, I would especially like to say thank you to Dr. Christina Davy, Dr. Mike Donaldson and Dr. Joanna Zigouris for your time, advice and kindness! To Katelyn Jackson for making lab work more fun and helping to pestle so many fly legs! Thank you to everyone from various labs who provided advice and kindness to me during the genetic component of my thesis. To Matt Harnden and Brad Seyler for all of the time they spent helping me navigate the supplies and processes I needed, Caleigh Smith for getting me started, Anne Kidd for sitting down with me more than once to provide invaluable advice, and Tyler Wheeldon for the times he walked me through protocol details and once saving my PCR! I had amazing support through Theresa Stotesbury and Lesley Hewett who kept me motivated and smiling. To my friends near and far, especially Chris Salewski who is always there to provide advice and hilarious distractions. To my amazing partner Vaughn Mangal who has never for a moment stopped encouraging me, I thank you. You have been such an integral part of the success of this thesis and it has been wonderful to grow with you as we pursue our dreams in science. Thank you to my parents James and Carolin Langer for their encouragement, wanting to learn more about insects and always being excited to lend their property for side projects! To the rest of my family and Vaughn’s family, especially my cousin Lindsay Rundle for always cheering me on! Of course, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my grandpa Peter Collin’s support, advice and logical approach to life, or my grandma Judy v Ussher who was the biggest supporter in my life. Even though I didn’t finish in time, I know that you would have been proud of me. I tell myself that although you won’t see what the future holds, I know you would have been proud of any accomplishment that made me happy. I can only hope I will be half the person you were to the world. Thank you. “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm” Ralph Waldo Emmerson 1841 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii Sarah Victoria Louise Langer ............................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1 General Introduction ......................................................................................1 PREFACE ....................................................................................................................................... 1 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY ANIMALS: DIPTERA: CALLIPHORIDAE ............................................ 1 HISTORY OF BLOW FLIES IN MEDICINE AND FORENSICS ............................................................. 3 RESEARCH RATIONALE ................................................................................................................. 5 PROJECT OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................................... 7 THESIS ORGANIZATION ................................................................................................................ 7 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................