Forensic palynology: current status of a rarely used technique in the United States of America.

The United States of America would seem to be an excellent location for using pollen data in forensic applications. The vegetation within the region is highly diverse ranging from areas of Arctic tundra to some of the most inhospitable deserts anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. The highly varied ecology, great plant diversity, thousands of vegetational microhabitats, and extensive published pollen records for the region provide an ideal setting for these types of analyses. This diversity, often characterized in most locations by unique combinations of pollen types, makes the use of forensic pollen a reliable technique that can often be used to associate individuals with a unique crime scene or geographical region. Nevertheless, forensic pollen studies in the United States of America are currently one of the most highly under utilized techniques available to assist in solving criminal and civil cases. During the past century there has been a very limited attempt to use pollen evidence in either criminal or civil cases, for a variety of reasons, including a lack of available information about the technique, a very limited number of specialists trained to do forensic pollen work, and an almost total absence of academic centers able to train needed specialists or forensic facilities able, or willing, to fund research in this area. Hopefully, this paucity of use will change if certain steps are taken to encourage the routine collection and use of pollen evidence in both criminal and civil cases.

Multidisciplinary fingerprints: forensic reconstruction of an insect reinvasion.

An unexpected outbreak of boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis, an insect pest of cotton, across the Southern Rolling Plains (SRP) eradication zone of west-central Texas, USA, was detected soon after passage of Tropical Storm Erin through the Winter Garden district to the south on 16 August 2007. The synchrony and broad geographic distribution of the captured weevils suggest that long-distance dispersal was responsible for the reinvasion. We integrated three types of assessment to reconstruct the geographic origin of the immigrants: (i) DNA fingerprinting; (ii) pollen fingerprinting; and (iii) atmospheric trajectory analysis. We hypothesized the boll weevils originated in the Southern Blacklands zone near Cameron, or in the Winter Garden district near Uvalde, the nearest regions with substantial populations. Genetic tests broadly agree that the immigrants originated southeast of the SRP zone, probably in regions represented by Uvalde or Weslaco. The SRP pollen profile from weevils matched that of Uvalde better than that of Cameron. Wind trajectories supported daily wind-aided dispersal of weevils from the Uvalde region to the SRP from 17 to 24 August, but failed to support migration from the Cameron region. Taken together the forensic evidence strongly implicates the Winter Garden district near Uvalde as the source of reinvading boll weevils.

The uses of pollen and its implication for Entomology / Os usos do pólen e suas implicações na Entomologia

Palinologia é o estudo dos grãos de pólen produzidos por plantas sementeiras (angiospermas e gimnospermas) e esporos (pteridófitas, briófitas, algas e fungos). O pólen representa a flora terrestre e pode ser útil em muitas disciplinas: é único, não deteriora facilmente e é um marcador natural. O pólen pode ser usado para determinar os mecanismos de polinização, os recursos de forrageamento, as rotas de migração e locais fontes de insetos e outros polinizadores. O pólen fornece meios para análises paleoambientais de rochas terrestres sendo de interesse de geólogos. Também auxilia a explicar as correlações de ambientes terrestres com as sucessões marítimas e é usado para determinar trocas ecológicas e ambientais. Recentemente, a palinologia tem sido utilizada nos meios forenses. Esse artigo introduz a idéia do uso do pólen em várias disciplinas e, em particular, na entomologia.

Palynology is the study of pollen grains produced by seed plants (angiosperms and gymnosperms) and spores (pteridophytes, bryophytes, algae and fungi). It represents the land flora and can be use in many different disciplines. Pollen is distinctive, does not easily decay and is a natural marker. Pollen can be used to determine pollination mechanisms, foraging resources, migration routes and source zones of insects and other pollinators. It provides a means for paleoenvironmental analyses of terrestrial rocks and is of interest to geologists. Pollen also aids in the correlation of terrestrial with marine successions and is used to determine environmental and ecological changes. Recently, palynology is used in forensics. This manuscript introduces the ideas of using pollen in a variety of disciplines, in particular in entomology.