[The succession of sarcophagus beetles on carrion and its application in forensic medicine].

Sarcophagus beetles, which can not be replaced by Diptera, play a pivotal role not only in estimating PMI of dry human skeletal remains in the later stages decomposition of carcasses, but also the corruption, destruction, decomposition and posture changes of carcasses. This article explicates the succession of sarcophagus beetles on carrion and its influencing factors, and introduces the application and prospects of sarcophagus beetles in forensic entomology. Although few researches focus on sarcophagus beetles at present, it is believed that more and more forensic scientists will pay attention to sarcophagus beetles' application in forensic identification.