In the first half of this ground-breaking treatise, entomologist Jean-Pierre Mégnin (1828–1905) provides an easily accessible summary of fifteen years of studies on the dating of a subject's death based on observation of the latter's cadaver, which numerous insect "squads" have visited at regular successive intervals. We thus follow, along with the author, the main phases of the invasion and destruction of the host by its “guests.” Such phases are enlightening from the dual vantage point of zoology and forensic science.

The second half of the book includes nineteen forensic observations made by the author and a few other naturalists, which constitute excellent application examples. The book is illustrated with a dozen watercolors painted by Xavier Carteret as part of our edition.

Jean-Pierre Mégnin (1828–1905), a French veterinarian and entomologist, specialises in the observation of necrophagous insects, the study of which makes it possible to date a subject's death. He became President of the Entomological Society of France in 1879 and a member of the French Academy of Medicine in 1893. He also headed the Zoological Society of London in 1885. His notable works published between 1880 and 1906 include: Maladies parasitaires chez l'homme et les animaux domestiques, Les Insectes buveurs de sang and La Faune des tombeaux, prelude to the present work.