On this first episode of Forensic Flies, Tessa goes into detail about her entomology background and gives the listener background information on what makes a fly a fly. She then discusses how blowflies and flesh flies are some of the earliest colonizers of decomposing remains by going into detail about two homicides dating back to thirteenth century China and 1850s Paris, France.

The sources used in today’s episode are: Catts, E. P. and G. R. Mullen. 2002. Sarcophaga. Medical and Veterinary Entomology. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/sarcophaga. Dellinger, T. A., and E. Day. 2015. Blow Flies; Diptera: Calliphoridae. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Virginia Cooperative Extension, https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ENTO/ENTO-134/ENTO-134-PDF.pdf. Diasz, L. A. and P. E. Kaufman. 2011, 2021, 2024. A Flesh Fly Sarcophaga crassipalpis Macquart (Insecta: Diptera: Sarcophagidae). University of Florida. UF/IFAS. Document number EENY503. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN905. Durnin, T. I. 2021. Exploring the hidden diversity of winter-emerging Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera). University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/226346. Goff, M.L. 2000, 2001. A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crime. First Harvard University Press, paperback edition. KwaZulu-Natal. Public Health Vectors and Pests: Flesh Fly. https://www2.kznhealth.gov.za/environ/vector/fleshfly.htm. McDermid, V. 2015. Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime. Grove Press. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/entomology. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forensic. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2025. Minneapolis/St. Paul Climate Data, Normals and Averages. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/climate/twin_cities/normals.html. Smithsonian. May 1999, 2015. Insect Info: True Flies (Diptera). https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/true-flies-diptera. The Bug Lady. 2010. Saukville Field Station: Flesh Fly (Family Sarcophagidae). https://uwm.edu/field-station/bug-of-the-week/flesh-fly/.

Cover Art by Marinus Pieter Filbri c.1887-1888. Music by Bryan Boyko.