STOMPer Jia Ling was amused to find this pair of houseflies going at it on her boyfriend's car. She says:
"I found a pair of flies making out on top my boyfriend's car.
"They were too engrossed and were not bothered that there was a camera placed near them when I was taking these shots.
"Hope it will be of some entertainment value."
These are flesh flies (F. Sarcophagidae), and as the name suggests, are attracted to carrion. Some species are also known to lay their eggs in open wounds.
(Photo by Chay Hoon)
While browsing through Flickr, I'm coming across a rather interesting pattern where it comes to photos of flesh flies:
(Photo by Nadine V.)
(Photo by jackb74105)
(Photo by Ajay H)
(Photo by radio4)
(Photo by jaiprox)
(Photo by Marcus)
Along with the blow flies (F. Calliphoridae) and houseflies (F. Muscidae), flesh flies can play a very important role in the field of forensic entomology, assisting investigations in determining how much time has passed since a person died. The species and life stage of the insects that colonise a human corpse can also provide important clues as to whether the body was disturbed or moved. Here's a video showing how flies helped solve a murder case:
More information on how forensic entomology helps solve crimes can be found here.
