Patterned postmortem ant abrasions outlining clothing and body position after death

• Typical post mortem ant activity causes irregular parchmented lesions in the skin.
• Two types of lesions caused by ants provide a visual record of clothing and position.
• Areas of abraded skin with well-defined edges marked clothing.
• Circular abraded injuries outline the points of contact of the body.
• Not all insect predation on bodies obscures information.

Analysis of a series of cases where post mortem lesions had been caused by ant activity demonstrated two types of specific lesions, the first associated with clothing, and the second with the position of the body of the decedent. The first type of injury consisted of areas of abraded parchmented skin with well-defined straight edges that marked the perimeter of clothing. The second lesion consisted of circular abraded injuries that outlined the junction between the body and the surface that it was resting on, essentially tracing the outline of the point of contact. In both situations ants had been unable to gain access to skin beneath elasticized clothing or parts of the body pressed against the floor or ground. This had resulted in a visual record of the edge of clothing and the position of parts of the body after death. This information may be important if clothing has been removed prior to autopsy or if lividity is minimal. These unique lesions also show that not all insect predation on bodies obscures information.