Despite the fact that life is the basis of everything and everything on our planet, death goes hand in hand with it. It is sad, but any form of life on the planet sooner or later meets with her.
Nature is very wise, and therefore took care in advance of the timely destruction of obsolete organics. And the corpse worms help her in this. Whatever emotions they evoke in us, we have to admit that in nature they play an extremely important role. Let's take a closer look at this.
So, suppose some animal died in the forest. What happens to a corpse if large scavengers do not detect it in time? Of course, flies are the first to flock to such a tidbit. And at first the usual brownies and blue meat flies arrive. A little later, when the first cadaveric spots already begin to appear on the corpse, representatives of the species gray sarcophagus and lucilia appear on it. Their larvae are known to us as cadaveric worms.
What is their role? First of all, the larvae of flies begin to feed on dead organics, liquefying (lysing) it. So they make it more accessible to other saprophytes. As the studies of some natural scientists show, rather large corpses of animals and even humans, larvae of flies can be completely destroyed in just a couple of weeks.
Of course, this only happens in artificially created conditions, since in the natural environment many organisms take part in the destruction of dead organics, among which the insects play an important role.
By the way, one does not need to think that insect larvae are the only guests at this feast. On the contrary, real dramas are sometimes played out on a mortal body! So, by the time of the development of a large number of worms on the body, the so-called Haster beetles appeared on it. They eat … no, not the corpse itself, but just those larvae of the flies that live on it!
Thus, a balance is formed between the number of larvae and the number of adult insects that can occur from them. If not for this natural regulation, each fly larva could develop to the adult stage. Can you imagine how many cadaveric flies were in nature then?
After the above creatures have worked on a dead body, almost all rotten flesh disappears and the corpse begins to dry out. At this time, skin-eating beetles appear on it. They are drawn to dry places and contribute to the destruction of dried pieces of skin and cartilage. As a result of their activity, the skeleton breaks up into separate bones.
However, if the body is located in a damp and poorly ventilated place, skin-eaters will not appear on it. Under these conditions, all the flesh will be destroyed by the already mentioned corpse worms, which in this case will have no competitors. However, it is worth mentioning that in humid and warm rooms, lichens and molds begin to play an important role.
Thus, in the world around us, the eternal cycle of matter is carried out, which is an important part of the existence of life on our planet. Moreover, cadaveric worms, which are extremely unpleasant for us, play a crucial role in this process: destroying dead organics, they do not allow diseases and epidemics to spread.
