When unidentified remains are relinquished to our care
That are so decayed and liquefied as to make diagnosis
quite a
chore
When the putrescent canvas of death is teeming with
bristling life
With tiny anthropoid stowaways nestled in every
pore...
My autopsy technicians mistake the corpse shudder for
a cadaveric spasm
But upon closer inspection they witness the
nauseating
wave of insect activity
The feasting and chatter drowns the neon hum from the
morgue lamps and fans
And the ambient
temperature rises 5 degrees as their
chitinous bodies skitter in putridity...
The corpse is alive...reanimated through
entomological
means
The John Doe swells...as parasitic activity literally
bursts through his seams
Seeping rivers of
eggs...hatching larvae are hurriedly
washed down the drain
Call the Forensic Entomologist...everyone knows he's got
bugs on the
brain...
...Carcass hive...
...Cadaverine nest...
The Forensic Entomologist is a specialist in this
field
Of which there
are three separate and distinct
components
The Urban field deals with insect/human environment
matters
Stored-Products handles
infestation of commodities and
products...
But the one that we require is the Medicolegal
Entomology field
With its eccentric
bug experts and their forensic
Ph.D.'s
They've classified and catalogued their necrophilous
winged friends
And can determine
PMI by the stadiums and stages of
insect activity...
...Blowflies...spiders...beetles...mites and
lice...
...Maggots...larvae...pupa...hatch and fly...
...Crawling...squirming...breeding...burrowing...
...Medicocriminal
entomology...
The Forensic Entomologist will analyze the cadaveric
colonization
Taking samples and noting the current state of
the
Blowfly population
After determining the extent of the recent Coleoptera
infestation
He will estimate the time of death so
that we may
continue with the examination...
...When tissue liquefies and attracts the clavicorn ...
...The flies are drawn and
oviposit their eggs...
...From this predictable process, tiny maggots are born...
...Named Instar Larvae, which then grow to
Prepupae...
The maggot molts through three instar stages, plumping
as they gnaw
Colonies hatch together and migrate across the
corpse
as a collective group
As a result of this infestation, they disseminate
bacteria and secrete enzymes
Which enable
nearly all of the soft tissue to be
dissolved and consumed...
Depending on the habitat and the abundance of the
region
The
expert can determine if the Diptera is currently
in season
Whether the Bottle fly prefers bright sunlight or
shade
And if the
Coleopteran is nocturnal or active during
the day...
Oviposited eggs encrust the natural orifices and moist
recesses
Maggots
swim in wound sites consuming rotting necrotic
flesh
The examiner's gloved hand is thrust wrist-deep in
this bug
colony
Searching through the thriving mush for additional
squirming evidence...
...Parasitic swarm...
...Maggot
colony...
...Blowflies...spiders...beetles...mites and lice...
...Maggots...larvae...pupa...hatch and
fly...
...Crawling...squirming...breeding...burrowing...
...Medicocriminal entomology...