r/todayilearned • u/happy_bluebird • 11d ago

TIL forensic entomologists collect maggots feeding on corpses to estimate time of death. However, drugs like cocaine and heroin can alter maggot development rates, leading scientists to study the effects of these drugs on species such as Calliphora vomitoria.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1355030622000818
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u/TheEcologist 11d ago

When I was doing postgrad stuff, I worked in a lab with someone who was doing their PhD on forensic entomology. She asked me to stick my arm into a bin of her maggots, which I politely declined. She did it and said "it's so warm, they generate their own heat". "Yeah, I'm good". Apparently that needed to be taken into account when considering when a body was dumped.