31 May - 1 June: Maggot activity increasing

1 June 2007: Here is the bear, with expansive coverage by feeding maggots, 11 days into the decompositional process. What have we learned so far?

1 - There are many similar patterns seen on the bear that we see in pig or human decomposition, such as flies laying eggs on or within orifices (mouth, nose, anus, etc.), early activity by green bottle flies of the tribe Luciliini (e.g., Phaenicia) followed by the black blow fly (Phormia regina), beetle activity occurring slightly after flies arrive, and the subsequent arrival of small flies after blow flies have 'conditioned' the carcass (e.g., Piophilidae, Sepsidae).

2 - There is a slight delay in maggot activity compared to humans or pigs. This may be for two reasons: a) the expansive coverage of fur, and/or b) the freezing of the carcass prior to the study may have altered the tissues enough to make them less-than-ideal for attracting egg-laying flies.

3- At about day 10, herbaceous plants (e.g., Virginia creeper) near the bear begin to turn brown when decompositional fluids saturate the soil.

1 June 2007: Maggot activity on the head has literally exploded.

1 June 2007: A close-up of the maggot mass centered in the mouth and nose. When we took outside temperature readings it was 27.5 degrees C. Placing the bulb of the thermometer into any of the maggot masses gave a reading of 46.0 degrees C - nearly 20 degrees warmer!

Maggot mass temperatures are important. They occur from the normal metabolism of feeding maggots (movement, feeding, digestion, etc.) and warm the carcass. This increased temperature probably helps to accellerate maggot development.

31 May 2007: The maggot mass covers most of the body. Fur is being deposited by maggot action in a circle around the bear.

31 May 2007: The head orifices are still a key point of maggot activity.

31 May 2007: Our observations show that the migration of maggots from the body (to find a safe place in the soil to form the pupa, or in flies pupariate) occurs most heavily early in the morning. By mid day, when temperatures are high, dessication is possible, and visual predators are abundant, the migrational activity is at its minimum. This photo was taken about 8:00AM.