The potential use of cuticular hydrocarbons and multivariate analysis to age empty puparial cases of Calliphora vicina and Lucilia sericata

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) have been successfully used in the field of forensic entomology for identifying and ageing forensically important blowfly species, primarily in the larval stages. However in older scenes where all other entomological evidence is no longer present, Calliphoridae puparial cases can often be all that remains and therefore being able to establish the age could give an indication of the PMI. This paper examined the CHCs present in the lipid wax layer of insects, to determine the age of the cases over a period of nine months. The two forensically important species examined were Calliphora vicina and Lucilia sericata. The hydrocarbons were chemically extracted and analysed using Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry. Statistical analysis was then applied in the form of non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis (NMDS), permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) and random forest models. This study was successful in determining age differences within the empty cases, which to date, has not been establish by any other technique.