522 



FLY MAGGOTS AND MYIASIS 



sores, wounds of any kind, or even the eyes, of human beings. 

 In one case 70 maggots were extracted from one eye after about 

 this many had already escaped and been thrown away. This 

 fly, unlike most of its allies, is said to attack only living animals. 

 The larvae are unusually resistant to substances which readily 

 kill other insects; they will survive two hours in 95 per cent 



FIG. 251. Larva of fleshfly, Sarcophaga; A, side view of larva; B, posterior 

 view showing posterior spiracles in depression; C, anterior spiracle, marked "sp." 

 in Fig. A ; D, skeleton of pharynx, with mouth hooks. (After Riiey and Johannsen.) 



alcohol, and ten minutes in turpentine or pure hydrochloric acid. 

 This species is said to be a great pest in war, where it causes 

 myiasis in the wounds of soldiers. In France it is said to add 

 much to the sufferings of wounded men. 



Other fleshflies occasionally deposit their eggs on living animals 

 or human beings. Sarcophaga carnaria is particularly likely to 

 deposit eggs or larvae in the vagina when it has access to it. 

 As in the case of the flies mentioned above, this species will 

 readily attack the nose or ears, especially if there is a foul-smell- 

 ing catarrhal discharge flowing from it, and will infest inflamed 

 or diseased eyes, sometimes nesting in large numbers under the 

 eyelids and eating away the cornea. 



The fleshflies are mainly gray in color, with longitudinal dark 

 stripes on the thorax and a checkered abdomen which is change- 

 able in varying lights. In summer the smell of decaying flesh 

 will invariably attract them. The checkered abdomen and the 

 broad angle at which the wings are held serve to distinguish 

 them from other gray flies. Their life history is essentially the 

 same as that of the screw-worm fly. 



Another fly which must be mentioned in this connection is 

 the sheep head-maggot, (Estrus ovis, a species of botfly. It 



