Necrophage
Necrophages are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead animal biomass, such as the muscle and soft tissue of carcasses and corpses (also known as carrion).
[1] Many hundreds of necrophagous species have been identified including invertebrates in the insect,[2] malacostracan[4] and gastropod[5] classes and vertebrates such as vultures, hyenas, quolls and wolves.
[2][18] Types of carrion fed upon include wildlife,[19][20][21] livestock and poultry carcasses, slaughterhouse and fishing discards, and human bodies.
The bees are observed to defend their colonized food item, including but not limited to a monkey, lizard, fish, or snake carcass, from competing necrophages, such as flies.
Coleoptera, specifically Cleridae, Dytiscidae, Scarabaeidae, Hydrophilidae, are common necrophages and, like Diptera, tend to play critical roles in forensic entomology.
[19][18][27][28] Dytiscidae are aquatic in both the adult and larval stages of their life cycles; thus, the beetles play a role in colonizing submerged human corpses.
The mouthparts have a cutting edge and a groove that allows the insect to release digestive enzymes into its prey item and maxillae with sharp teeth.
Researchers matched the post-mortem skin injuries of a human corpse to the mouthparts of such beetles and, in doing so, revealed necrophagous activity in the dermis and epidermis.
Notably, the necrophagy elicited by Rhantus validus also created microhabitats for other, smaller necrophages by allowing access to freshly dead internal tissue.
When faced with a competitor, such as a hermit crab, at the site of the carrion, the Nassarius clarus attack the competition to defend their meal.
Nassarius clarus are attracted to fish and bivalve carrion to a distance of 26 miles and have a heightened interest in areas where the sand has been disturbed; thus, indicating the potential presence of organic detritus or damaged fauna.
Due to the advances of cattle-breeding, involving indoor breeding and the utilization of dead cattle, many necrophagous birds, such as the Eurasian griffon, are losing access to nutritionally valuable cow carcasses.
Notably, the colonization of a human corpse by Diptera necrophages is positively correlated with particular injuries, such as gunshot wounds and lacerations.
The nature of these injuries provides higher levels of accessibility for the necrophagous Diptera and allows them to colonize the corpse rapidly.
Therefore, the body temperature of a corpse is of utmost importance to necrophages, as they prefer fresh internal tissue and sexually thrive in warm environments.
[18][38] Specifically, in the later stages of decomposition, Dermestidae and Cleridae have been recorded to colonize human corpses and provide insight regarding the post-mortem interval (PMI).
