Verification of AFLP kinship methods of entomological evidence by sequencing

•AFLP-based kinship methods of Calliphorid DNA is a valid technique for inferring postmortem relocation of a corpse.•Nine new Phormia regina COII haplotypes found in a population sample of 126.•COII sequencing revealed false positive error of <4%.

Kinship analysis allows the determination of sibship based on the individuals’ genetic profile. In a recent empirical study, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis was proposed as a test to determine kinship between Phormia regina individuals useful in inferring postmortem transport of a corpse. In order to validate this technique, mitochondrial DNA gene cytochrome oxidase II was sequenced for all individuals used in the previous study. Then, the relatedness coefficient based on AFLP profiles was determined for the pairs of individuals that had different haplotypes, and thus could not be full siblings, to determine a conservative false positive error rate of this proposed test. A majority, 96%, of pair wise comparisons of individuals with different haplotypes had relatedness coefficients <0.41 supporting the conclusion that AFLP analysis for full sibship is a valid and robust technique and thus useful for the detection of postmortem movement of a corpse.