Maggots

The fly is an insect whose development follows the path of a life cycle. Maggots are very useful to forensic scientists. Maggots are used to pinpoint the exact time of death. As soon as a person or animal dies, flies arrive and lay eggs in open wounds, ears, eyes and nose. The larvae(maggots) that emerge from the egg begin to feed on the dead body. They grow quickly and mature into adult flies within two to three weeks. Entomologists are scientists that study insects. They are often called to the scene of a crime to collect evidence.

A prize stud bull was found dead on a farm. The bull was obviously dead for a few days. A rival farmer was suspected of poisoning the bull. The suspect was questioned on the morning of the 14th of March. In his statement the suspect said that he was out of the country between March the 4th and March the 7th.

Forensic scientists collected maggots from the carcass. They noted the average length of the maggots was 8.5 mm. The scientists collected some maggots and took them back to the laboratory. They plotted the growth of the maggots grown under the exact conditions as those at the scene of the crime. The growth is plotted on the graph below. The graph plots the length(mm) of the maggot over time (days)

How long is the life cycle of this particular fly?

How many days old is an 8.5 mm maggot?

Could the suspect have poisoned the bull? Explain.

On closer examination the forensic scientists noticed empty pupa shells near the body. The scientists were then forced to reassess their estimation of the time of death. How many days was the bull dead for before it was discovered on the 14th of March.?