Caterpillars and casualty: Working a death scene in Galveston, TX

The necrophilous feeding habit for Tinea pellionella, the case-making clothes moth, is described for caterpillars retrieved from desiccated human remains discovered in a urban death scene in Texas. A detailed description is provided for the first time of the moth’s case-building behavior when feeding on human remains and discusses the as of yet undocumented incorporation of human head hair into case construction. Finally, a protocol for the extraction of human mtDNA from the descendant’s head hair that was incorporated in case architecture is presented..