Corpses become a hive of activity for the decomposition ecosystem – a rich tapestry of critters from the microscopic to the winged – and what they do with our remains can both help and hinder criminal investigations. 

On the one hand, forensic entomology is often the best way to indicate how long a person has been dead after the first 72 hours. On the other, scavengers sometimes fly off with our remains, making it that much harder to piece together the details of a crime.

In their book, Metamorphosis, Dr Erica McAlister and Adrian Washbourne dive into “Blowfly Detectives”, a group of animals that are a staple at crime scenes. These flies are necrophages – organisms that feed on the bodies of the dead. It’s a grim concept, but without such animals, we’d be wading around in corpses.

We spoke to McAlister and Washbourne to find out about some of the weirdest cases they encountered during the research for their book, and how important insects have become in the field of forensic science.

Read more about insect detectives here.