MINI REVIEW article
Front. Insect Sci.
Sec. Insect Systematics
Wings on Concealed corpse: The forensic importance of Scuttle Flies (Diptera: Phoridae)
Provisionally accepted
Yali Guo1
Yifei Luo2
Yuting Ma2
Afito Luciano2Jingjing Huang1Ye Li1Shiwen Wang1Yuequn Niu1Zhou Li1
Jifeng Cai2*
Fanming Meng2*- 1Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China
- 2Central South University, Changsha, China
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Forensic entomology focuses on insects associated with decomposing remains to provide clues for forensic investigations. Among those insects, scuttle flies are uniquely capable of colonizing enclosed spaces and underground burial sites where other insects cannot access, often serving as the sole entomological "witnesses" to provide crucial evidence in forensic practice. This review highlights the forensic significance of scuttle flies, including the biological characters, diversity and behaviors of scuttle flies from forensic aspects based on reported cases. We investigate the biological and environmental factors influencing their utility in forensic investigation, and scuttle fly species commonly found on corpses were also summarized. Additionally, suggestions on future research directions of scuttle flies and how their biological characteristics can enhance their application in forensic entomology are also provided.
Keywords: Corpses5, Forensic entomology1, insect2, phorid fly3, Postmortem interva14
Received: 17 Oct 2025; Accepted: 12 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guo, Luo, Ma, Luciano, Huang, Li, Wang, Niu, Li, Cai and Meng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jifeng Cai
Fanming Meng
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