The coffin fly, Megaselia scalaris, is a species of medical and forensic importance and is increasingly being used for the study of genetics. Postmortem interval can be estimated based on the life stage of M. scalaris recovered from corpses, therefore many studies have addressed the duration of each life stage. These studies demonstrate that embryogenesis completes significantly faster in M. scalaris than in the congener Megaselia abdita and faster even than the 24 hours needed for Drosophila melanogaster embryogenesis. However, until now it has been unclear if this increased speed is achieved by reducing developmental time across all embryonic stages or by the acceleration of individual stages and processes. Furthermore, the large difference in developmental time between the Megaselia species suggests that the staging scheme developed for M. abdita will not be directly applicable to M. scalaris. Here I use time-lapse imaging to create a staging scheme for M. scalaris embryogenesis. Comparison of stages between D. melanogaster and both Megaselia species reveals heterochronic shifts, increased coordination of morphogenetic movements and compression of individual stages all contribute to the rapid development of M. scalaris.