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...