Here we go,
all ready to go.
We've got a lump of flesh here
which they're feeding on at the moment.
Oh, yeah, look at those.
Can I grab one of those?
Just pick one of those up.
I mean, this guy here.
I'm not sure about holding a flesh-eating beetle larvae.
Look at that.
Oh, if you feel asleep
and fell in there
that would be your lot, wouldn't it?
The role of insects in decomposition
has lead to a whole new science,
and one which the museum has embraced.
By looking at the development of maggots at a murder scene,
scientists are able to say when death probably occurred.
Forensic entomology, as it's called,
is now a crucial weapon in the armoury of the police.
The secrets of forensic entomology have largely been unravelled
through work conducted not on humans,
but on the pigs.
Now that's changing,
thanks to an extraordinary research facility in Tennessee.
Museum scientist Amoret Whitaker
has spent years studying dead pigs
in order to understand the decaying process,
but here
she's able to work with real human remains.