In this work we aim to provide a comprehensive review of the existing and foreseeable use of genetic markers with a particular mode of transmission — haplodiploid, determined by the systematic variation in the number of copies of the corresponding loci (and, therefore, alleles) between the mating partners. Haplodiploid markers are commonly overlooked and their forensic applications undervalued. This work is a contribution to change this situation, encouraging the use of their valuable information, demonstrating that in many instances, they constitute an irreplaceable tool to solve some forensically relevant problems. We also address RNA profiling, which was introduced in the forensic field over twenty years ago (Juusola and Ballantyne, Forensic Sci Int 135:85, 2003) and since then many studies have been able to prove the utility of mRNA expression for body fluid and tissue identification in forensics. In addition, the interpretation of mRNA results is still an open field where much work is needed to allow a full implementation of RNA along with DNA profiling, namely concerning specificity and statistical evaluation of results.