There are two main ways of using insects to determine elapsed time since death :

1. Using successional waves of insects.
2. Using maggot age and development.

The method used is determined by the circumstances of each case. In general, the first method is used when the corpse has been dead for between a month up to a year or more, and the second method is used when death occurred less than a month prior to discovery.

The first method is based on the fact that a human body, or any kind of carrion, supports a very rapidly changing ecosystem going from the fresh state to dry bones in a matter of weeks or months depending on geographic region. During this decomposition, the remains go through rapid physical, biological and chemical changes, and different stages of the decomposition are attractive to different species of insects. Certain species of insects are often the first witnesses to a crime. They usually arrive within 24 h of death if the season is suitable i.e. spring, summer or fall in Canada and can arrive within minutes in the presence of blood or other body fluids. These first groups of insects are the Calliphoridae or blowflies and the Muscidae or houseflies. Other species are not interested in the corpse when the body is fresh, but are only attracted to the corpse later such as the Piophilidae or cheese skippers which arrive later, during protein fermentation. Some insects are not attracted by the body directly, but arrive to feed on the other insects at the scene. Many species are involved at each decomposition stage and each group of insects overlaps the ones adjacent to it somewhat. Therefore, with a knowledge of the regional insect fauna and times of carrion colonization, the insect assemblage associated with the remains can be analyzed to determine a window of time in which death took place. This method is used when the decedent has been dead from a few weeks up to a year, or in some cases several years after death, with the estimated window of time broadening as time since death increases. It can also be used to indicate the season of death e.g. early summer. A knowledge of insect succession is required for this method to be successful.

The second method, that of using maggot age and development can give a date of death accurate to a day or less, or a range of days, and is used in the first few weeks after death. Maggots are larvae or immature stages of Diptera or two-winged flies. The insects used in this method are those that arrive first on the corpse, that is, the Calliphoridae or blowflies. These flies are attracted to a corpse very soon after death. They lay their eggs on the corpse, usually in a wound, if present, or if not, then in any of the natural orifices. Their development follows a set, predictable, cycle.

The insect egg is laid in batches on the corpse and hatches, after a set period of time, into a first instar (or stage) larva. The larva feeds on the corpse and moults into a second instar larva. The larva continues to feed and develop into a third instar larva. The stage can be determined by size and the number of spiracles (breathing holes). When in the third instar, the larva continues to feed for a while then it stops feeding and wanders away from the corpse, either into the clothes or the soil, to find a safe place to pupate. This non-feeding wandering stage is called a prepupa. The larva then loosens itself from its outer skin, but remains inside. This outer shell hardens, or tans, into a hard protective outer shell, or pupal case, which shields the insect as it metamorphoses into an adult. Freshly formed pupae are pale in colour, but darken to a deep brown in a few hours. After a number of days, an adult fly will emerge from the pupa and the cycle will begin again. When the adult has emerged, the empty pupal case is left behind as evidence that a fly developed and emerged.

Each of these developmental stages takes a set, known time. This time period is based on the availability of food and the temperature. In the case of a human corpse, food availability is not usually a limiting factor.

Insects are 'cold blooded', so their development is extremely temperature dependent. Their metabolic rate is increased with increased temperature, which results in a faster rate of development, so that the duration of development decreases in a linear manner with increased temperature, and vice-versa.

An analysis of the oldest stage of insect on the corpse and the temperature of the region in which the body was discovered leads to a day or range of days in which the first insects oviposited or laid eggs on the corpse. This, in turn, leads to a day, or range of days, during which death occurred. For example, if the oldest insects are 7 days old, then the decedent has been dead for at least 7 days. This method can be used until the first adults begin to emerge, after which it is not possible to determine which generation is present. Therefore, after a single blowfly generation has been completed, the time of death is determined using the first method, that of insect succession.

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