DEATH INTO DINNER
The Bugs we screech and slap at!! The sound of these bugs and their offspring we all recognize.
The dark side of rot, garbage, dying and the dead. What is considered gross to us attracts the true champions in our environment, the insects that thrive in this environment. Necrophagous (eating of dead things) and Necrophilous (loving the dead things) and all the benefits of Forensic entomology that is trusted, essential and thrives!
Entomology Today
A rainbow of worlds are utilized by these flies and beetles, from fermented cheese to forensics, and to the decomposition of all that lay rotting or dead.
We see the common Blow Fly - easy to see metallic flies everywhere in our world where rot is occurring, and their environments, whether road kill or garbage (or death in any of it's forms), are where this family of flies will "taste" their new home. Looking for the right cradle to nurture their larvae and propagate their species, this new home of theirs is likely barely available as these flies don't waste any time moving in.
An interesting piece of information about the blow fly, is that while the adult fly is waiting to "be born" inside the larvae, it has moved to a drier spot to grow, doesn't move and can be mistaken for mice turds from the size, shape and color. Best to take a second look if this occurs, as instead of old dirty mice droppings a new batch of adult flies may soon be living nearby! Oh the buzzing sound that would make!
In Italy, a specialty cheese "CASA MARZU" is made from the jumping larvae of the Diptera Fly as the fly eats away at the cheese as a pest, and the cheese is left on purpose for the fly to propagate the cheese as the new home. The taste is rumored to be delicious, but maybe the image of the fly larvae jumping up and down on the cheese is not so divine.
Built to bury under a dying corpse of any animal with their flat wings, this beetle will make a quick meal for itself. The above Diptera Fly who will have maybe arrived onto the carcass already, will already have some quickly hatching larvae on site. However, these newbies have no escape from the Carrion either, as the larvae will make for a good meal for this family of beetles, like an appetizer before the feast. The battle of the insects on their buffet is on!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_carrion_beetle
The HISTER Beetle family is an interesting character, a wide range of shapes and colors, some almost ladybug like marked and some sharply colored. From the Genus family of Clown Beetles, it is easy to see why! At first, one may think that the word "Clown" was chosen for the colors, but it was chosen for the flat feet of this beetle like a Clown's foot. Most are Black, and all are shiny. They are tortoise like in their ability to retract their heads as shown above.
Doing their damage in the twilight feeding on carrion and carcasses, they are know to fake death, playing the dead themselves if threatened. These are the "time of death" tools you can watch in movies when forensics need accurate information and estimated times to pinpoint death. First you hear the buzzing of flies around the dead, the maggots who will shortly appear, and then the beetle that eats them all.
This family of beetles are very voracious eaters, even eating their own kind. They thrive in any location, find their own niches, and are also eaters of the House Flies, and of all stages of Fly development from larvae on up. Flat or Round, the shape of these beetles depends on their home, because they can be found in multiple areas and circumstances.
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From Death to Dinner, these examples of how efficient our ecosystems are in ridding of the dead and waste of our existence into propagation and new life cycles is intrinsically interesting. Especially the work done during the night when all are asleep, we simply do not comprehend how much activity is always going on around us, away from our eyes. Thankfully, they do their job well, otherwise we would live in piles of waste and death....and mostly rot which would not be pleasant!
Thanks for joining me in learning about our world!