Metamorphosis: Blowflies and dazzling disguise

Blowflies may be some of the most reviled insects on the planet, but as Erica McAlister discovers, they are central to the surprisingly long tradition of forensic entomology and how there's more than meets the eye in the distinctive structural colour of the morpho butterfly wing, whose dazzling sheen is a key for camouflage and commerce.

(Photo: A fly on a leaf. Credit: Christina Bollen/Getty Images)

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Metamorphosis: Blowflies and dazzling disguise

Discovery

Blowflies may be reviled insects, but they are central to forensic entomology.

Blowflies may be some of the most reviled insects on the planet, but as Erica McAlister discovers, they are central to the surprisingly long tradition of forensic entomology and how there's more than meets the eye in the distinctive structural colour of the morpho butterfly wing, whose dazzling sheen is a key for camouflage and commerce.

(Photo: A fly on a leaf. Credit: Christina Bollen/Getty Images)

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27 minutes

Last on

Tue 19 Sep 2023
19:32GMT

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only

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