Maggots, which are baby flies, often have unsavoury habits. Those of many blowfly species have an insatiable appetite for rotting flesh, which is the only natural habitat in which they can survive. To help move through such material, they possess special spines on their skin, shown here very greatly magnified. These spines differ among species according to their shape and distribution. The development of tools for reliable maggot identification, given the importance of these insects in nutrient recycling and in forensic science, is a major research focus in the ICB.