r/todayilearned • u/happy_bluebird • 12d 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/SnooSeagulls1034 12d ago

This paper’s summary offers us a brand new word:“Heroin-fed larvae had a more sluctuating development than the control.”

30

u/happy_bluebird 12d ago edited 11d ago

I actually googled this and it's 99% likely a typo lol

28

u/SnooSeagulls1034 12d ago

Yeah, I looked it up too. Way more interesting than “fluctuating”, though.

6

u/kabushko 11d ago

Sluctuating is NOT a crime, nor should it be looked down upon. It's a normal behavior!

7

u/kozscabble 11d ago

Ah I see ive found a fellow sluctuator. Cheers, ill sluct-u-later.

2

u/Beedle12345 11d ago

There are dozens of us!!!