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...