Day 10: 25 June 2009

Although maggots in the third instar have moved off the carcass, there is still plenty of activity. A great deal of activity is underneath the carcasses and in the pitfall traps. There are few blowflies to collect, but beetles, ants and maggots are plentiful.

Beetles

Collected at the farm: Carrion beetles (Necrodes surinamensis and Oiceoptoma rugulosum), rove beetles (Platydracus spp. and Creophilus maxillosus), the redshouldered ham beetle (Necrobia ruficollis), the small dung beetle (Onthophagus spp.), clown beetles (Hister spp.), hide beetle (Trox unistriatus) and a ground beetle of the family Carabidae.

Collected at CSU: The hairy rove beetle Creophilus maxillosus and Hister beetles.

Postfeeding maggots migrate away from the body to find a safe place to form puparia. Two pupa can be seen in the picture above. The difference in color is due to variation in age among the puparia with red being the youngest.

As the maggots wander, they fall into the pitfall traps placed in each direction from the carcasses. At some sites, the pitfall traps were completely full of mature maggots, as pictured above.

Pig 5. Location: University Farm. Although the surface of the carcass is leathery and hard, the moist tissues underneath are still suitable for maggots.

Pig 4. Location: CSU. The number of maggots present on the carcass has increased as they actively consume the pig (Above). The abscess is quickly decomposed due to maggot activity (Below).

Submitted by Krystal Hans, MS student, Cleveland State University, 13 August 2009.