How Do Flies Come From Dead Bodies?
WouterFlies are attracted to dead bodies and other rotting organic matter. Often, they feed on dead animals or rotting meat. In addition, stagnant water and other moist organic matter can be perfect breeding grounds for flies. This is why it is important to keep your kitchen and bathroom clean and dry.
Interestingly, the flies that live under a dead body vary with time since it died, and provide evidence of the date of death. In colder months, winter gnats may lay their eggs on a carcass. Other flies, like phorids, are associated with coffined bodies. These insects can burrow into a body to a depth of 50 cm within four days. Unlike bacteria and fungi, phorids are not attracted to digging.
The temperature of the death site is also a factor. It is rare for a criminal to kill their victim under a weather station. In such cases, the researchers will need to set up a miniature weather station near the body site and compare the results to the local weather station. Whether or not there is a maggot mass in the soil may also affect the microclimate around the corpse.
When flies lay their eggs on a corpse, they do so in batches. As the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the dead body’s fluids and move in to the body to incubate. After two weeks, the larvae hatch out and repopulate the surrounding area.
