How a Corpse-Loving Fly Could Help Catch Rhino Poachers
They’re often the first arrivals at the scene of the crime—buzzing, sapphire-bodied flies that herald the appearance of other flies, beetles, and a whole buggy ecosystem that will take over a corpse. Known as Chrysomya marginalis, this distinctive, red-eyed blowfly descends upon dead animals to lay eggs, giving their offspring flesh to feast on. And it may be able to help South African authorities catch the poachers who are destroying the country’s rhino population.
In South Africa, poachers kill .The horns are sold in East Asian these purported benefits—the horns are made of the same protein that forms hair and nails—yet poachers continue to target rhinos, particularly in the , a nature reserve twice the size of Cyprus that straddles South Africa and Mozambique.
