Re: How do maggots get inside a casket?

Hi "B.I.G.":

Most maggots that one sees on anything dead are fly larvae - the most common and abundant are what are commonly called Blow Flies (members of the family Calliphoridae ) and Flesh Flies or Coffin Flies (members of the family Sarcophagidae ) .

Their life history is pretty simple: adult females lay a clutch of eggs in something dead (they usually have a long tube called an ovipositor to "inject" the eggs as part of their genitals), and those eggs hatch out to larvae (a.k.a. maggots). The larvae feed on the dead tissue (or more importantly, on the bacteria that is decomposing the dead tissue) until they've grown, then they form a pupa, that eventually hatches out into the adult form. So, if there are maggots in a casket, it is because an adult female flew in when it was open an deposited some eggs.

Caskets are of course made of wood, and will eventually rot. Then all kinds of animals will be able to get inside by boring through.

There is a field of study called forensic entomology, that studies how different insects use dead tissue, in order to determine things like the time of death.

Hope that helps!
Rob Campbell, MAD Scientist