ABSTRACT
After death, a body, whether human or animal, goes through many rapid changes, the most noticeable of which is the decomposition of the soft tissue. Decomposition is driven by many factors, but among the most important are bacterial and insect action. Insects can be primarily responsible for the removal of most of the soft tissue. As such, they provide an extremely important ecological role, recycling the biomass of an animal so that it can be re-utilized in the food chain. A human body is a valuable food resource to a large number of insects and becomes attractive to insects immediately after death (Anderson and VanLaerhoven, 1996; Dillon, 1997; Dillon and Anderson, 1995; 1996; Nuorteva, 1997; Smith, 1986). The body changes biologically, physically, and chemically as it decomposes, so the composition of the food resource modifies over time. However, insects are extraordinarily good at exploiting just about all food niches possible, and a changing sequence of insects will be attracted to the remains after death, until there is no more utilizable nourishment left. Insects are, therefore, a very noticeable part of the decomposition process.
