Final answer:
Flies generally lay their eggs on dead animals and decaying organic matter, but some species lay eggs in specific places like hawthorn trees or inside living caterpillars. House flies and blow flies are typical examples of ones that look for decaying matter, while the behavior of parasitoid wasps is quite unique, laying eggs within living caterpillars.
Step-by-step explanation:
Flies typically lay their eggs on dead animals, decaying organic matter, or in some specific cases, in living tissue. Certain species have distinct preferences for oviposition. For example, house flies and blow flies are known to deposit their eggs on dead and decaying matter, whereas hawthorn flies lay eggs in specific trees such as hawthorn trees. The larvae of the hawthorn fly consume the fruit of the tree as they develop. Other flies, like the parasitoid wasps, have an entirely different behavior, where females lay their eggs inside the bodies of living caterpillars which eventually die when the eggs hatch. In the scope of forensic entomology, the knowledge of where and when flies lay their eggs is crucial in determining the time of death by studying the stages and types of maggots present on a cadaver.