Blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are a key insect family utilized by forensics entomologists to generate a minimum postmortem interval (mPMI) or “time of death” estimate for human decedents. While it is assumed that blow flies are inactive at night, this experiment aims to determine if blow flies are searching for oviposition sites at night. If active, mPMI estimates could be altered by as much as 12 hours; a critical amount of time in a homicide investigation. Blow flies were collected over a total period of 10 days in different months and analyzed with JMP Pro 17. After analysis, there was a significant difference in the amount of blow flies collected at night as opposed to daytime which further confirms the previously held idea that Calliphoridae are inactive at night. This research and further research could potentially improve the accuracy and reliability of mPMI calculations used in criminal cases.
