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A bug for Research •	It was known that blowflies would go after a bloody body, helping to determine postmortem interval or time of death •	Hot weather causes the insects to swarm in greater numbers o	Greatest number of insects on bodies during the summer o	Decomposition happened faster in open areas o	Adults and larvae documented •	During winter, flies are grounded by the cold- don’t go out if the temp. drops below 50 degrees farenheit •	Bill Rodriguez does his graduate study thesis on insects and the decomposition of dead bodies o	Puts bodies on wire racks and watches insects go after them for hours o	Not only blowflies, but wasps and yellow jackets too o	They fed on the corpses and laid eggs on them o	He studied how far away the flies could smell the body, and if the same flies were returning over and over again •	Marked the flies with orange paint and three out of five returned o	Even forensics scientists had to leave the room when he presented his study o	Now he is the staff forensic anthropologist for the armed forces medical examiner