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@article{206482,
        author = {Dhanya R and Athira K S},
        title = {Influence of Seasonal Variation on Drug Detection in Necrophagous Insects and Its Implications for Postmortem Interval Estimation},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {2},
        pages = {1733-1735},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=206482},
        abstract = {Forensic entomology has become an indispensable discipline in criminal investigations by employing insects associated with decomposing remains to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI). An important extension of this field is entomotoxicology, which examines the presence of drugs and toxic substances in necrophagous insects feeding on human remains. In situations where conventional biological specimens are unavailable because of advanced decomposition, insect larvae serve as valuable alternative samples for toxicological analysis. However, environmental conditions, particularly seasonal variation, significantly influence insect colonisation, development, and drug metabolism. Factors such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, and photoperiod affect both insect life cycles and the persistence of xenobiotics within insect tissues, thereby influencing the accuracy of PMI estimation. This review discusses the role of necrophagous insects in forensic investigations, examines how seasonal changes affect drug detection, highlights the challenges encountered in entomotoxicological analysis, and explores recent technological advances that improve forensic accuracy. The study concludes that incorporating seasonal environmental data with toxicological and entomological evidence enhances the reliability of forensic investigations.},
        keywords = {Forensic Entomology, Entomotoxicology, Necrophagous Insects, Postmortem Interval, Seasonal Variation, Toxicology.},
        month = {July},
        }