• Question: how do flies determine time since death???could other animals be used to determine time since death???

    Asked by lolly1998 to Kat on 17 Mar 2011 in Categories: . This question was also asked by amberdamber.
    • Photo: Katherine Davies

      Katherine Davies answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      Hi

      flies visit a corpse and lay their eggs within minutes of death. if when we discover a corpse, we calculate the age of the oldest maggots (because these would have been laid first), this will indicate how long the body has been at the scene, i.e. time since death (TSD).

      many different species of flies are used to estimate TSD, and we also use beetles, as these eat the skin and rougher tissues during later stages of decay. the different combinations (or assemblages) of insects present at different points during decomposition (succession) indicate TSD after 2-3 weeks.

      many other insects such as wasps, ants and butterflies visit the corpse, but to dont indicate TSD, as they arrive throughout the process, not at specific times to feed.

      If the body is in water, then we use the assemblage of underwater arthropods like crabs to indicate TSD.

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