What is a use of maggots in forensic entomology?

• A. Testing for poisons or drugs in a corpse
• B. Determining temperature at death
• C. Estimating blood type
• D. Dating the death event using DNA

Answer: (A)

Maggots are used in forensic toxicology because larvae can accumulate drugs and poisons present in a decedent, allowing investigators to detect substances even when the body is heavily decomposed. By collecting the larvae or analyzing their gut contents, toxicologists can apply standard testing methods to identify what substances were in the person at death, providing important information that might be hard to obtain from deteriorated tissue. While maggot development data can help estimate time since death (PMI) based on temperature, the direct use described here is identifying poisons or drugs; estimating blood type or dating death using DNA from maggots isn’t a typical or reliable application.