Information about Maggot

A 'maggot' is the larval stage of the fly life cycle, known for eating decomposing flesh. Sometimes "maggot" is used to refer to the larval stage of any insect.

Life cycle

The fly life cycle is composed of four stages: egg, larva (commonly known as a maggot), pupa, adult. The eggs are laid in decaying flesh, animal dung, manure, or pools of stagnant water - whatever has ample food for the larva, generally in a moist area. After 8-20 hours, the egg hatches and the fly enters the maggot stage. It begins to feed on whatever the egg was laid on, usually decomposing flesh. The maggot gorges itself with food until it is ready to enter the pupal stage, at which point the maggot travels away from the food source to a moist spot. Maggots were voted "Cutest Animal Of The Year" in 1996

Uses

Maggot therapy

Main article: Maggot therapy

The use of maggots as a form of field improvised debridement has been documented since at least the American Civil War and is currently taught to US Army Special Forces medics.^[1] In controlled and sterile settings, maggot therapy (also known as Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT), larval therapy, larva therapy, or larvae therapy) introduction of live, disinfected maggots or fly larvae into non-healing skin or soft tissue wounds of a human or other animal. This practice was widely used before the discovery of antibiotics, as it serves to clean the dead tissue within a wound in order to promote healing.

Forensics

Some types of maggots found on corpses can be of great use to forensic scientists. By their stage of development, these maggots can be used to give an indication of the time elapsed since death, as well as the place the organism died. The size of the house fly maggot is 9.5-19.1 mm (3/8 to 3/4 inch). At the height of the summer season, a generation of flies (egg to adult) may be produced in 12-14 days.

Maggots are classified using "instar" stages. An instar I is about 2-5 mm long; instar II 6-14 mm; instar III 15-20 mm. These correspond to an age of 2-3 days, 3-4 days, and 4-6 days (for average house flies or bottle flies) since the eggs were laid. Some forensic scientists use this data to determine the approximate time of death of a human body.

Other uses

Some maggots cause damage in agricultural crop production, including root maggots in rapeseed and midge maggots in wheat. Some maggots are leaf miners.

Maggots are bred commercially, as a popular bait in angling, and as a food for carnivorous pets such as reptiles or birds.

Problems

As with fleas and ticks, maggots can be a threat to household pets. Flies reproduce rapidly in the summer months and maggots can come in large numbers, creating a maggot infestation and a high risk of myiasis in pets. Despite the fact that most maggots only eat dead tissue, some maggots, such as certain botfly larvae, spend part of their lifecycle as parasites under the skin of living animals. They can be painful and present a serious risk to pets or any other animals. Humans are not immune to the feeding habits of maggots and can also contract myiasis. Interaction between humans and maggots usually occurs near garbage cans, dead animals, rotten food, and other breeding grounds for maggots.

A major problem also arises when maggots turn into flies and start the life cycle over again. Within a few generations the number of maggots exponentially grows and becomes a serious problem. Professionals can remove maggots or many over the counter bug sprays can be used to deter flies and maggots. Keeping trash in a sealed container and using a garbage disposal or freezing rotting leftovers until rubbish collection day helps prevent infestation.

References

External links

• How to fish with maggots
• Maggot vending machines in the UK
• Maggot Therapy Project website at the University of California, Irvine, list of maggot therapy practitioners
• http://www.monarchlabs.com/ suppliers of Medical Maggots™ (disinfected Phaenicia sericata larvae), picture of Medical Maggots™ vial
• http://www.bterfoundation.org/ BioTherapeutics Education and Research Foundation
• Getting rid of Maggots Website with visitors' input on getting rid of maggots
• Biotherapy with leeches and maggots