ol2 FLY MAGGOTS AND xMYIASlS 



on tlu' floors of native huts. The fiy is said by Roubaud to make 

 a furrow in the dust with her abdomen while running on the 

 ground, feeUng for breaks or cracks in which to deposit her eggs. 

 Having found such a spot she forces her abdomen into it and 

 deposits usually a single egg, then seeks a new crack, deposits 

 another egg, etc., until the whole number of from 30 to 80 eggs 

 has been disposetl of. The eggs, the development of wiiicii is 

 favored \)y dry surroundings, hatch in a few days. Witliin four 

 or five hours after emergence the larvae are ready to suck blood if 

 opportunity presents itself, Ijut they are able to live nearly a 

 month without food, remaining buried an inch or so in the dust 

 of floors. Tlicy can always be collected by digging with the point 

 of a knife in cracks in the earth under sleeping mats. Roubaud 

 collected 100 larva? in half an hour, many of them filled with 

 blood, in a hut where a dozen children slept. 



The maggots (Fig. 244B) are dirty-white creatures, much 

 wrinkled in appearance, hut otherwise quite like the larvs of 

 hou.scflies. Tlie tapering anterior end of the body is provided 

 with a pair of l)lack hooks to aid in piercing the skin of the host, 

 and has retractile sucking mouthparts. The thick leatherv skin 

 and the position in a crack in the ground protects the larva from 

 injur}' when stepped on by the bare feet of the natives. Tlie 

 body is beset with rings of spines which aid in the wriggling 

 method of locomotion. The maggots are inactive in the day- 

 time, but come forth at night to suck the blood of sleepers, biting 

 them usually on the side of the body next to the ground. The 

 Intes are less irritating than those of mosquitoes, and according 

 to Roul)aud the bites of 20 larNir at once produced no inflam- 

 mation or itching. 



Under ideal conditions tlie larva? pa.ss tln-ougli two moults and 

 go into the i)upal stage in 15 days, l)ut this may be extended to 

 about two and one-half months under unfavorable conditions, 

 such as low temperature and irregular food sujiply. Tiic pupal 

 stage lasts al)oul 1 1 days. The adults do not begin laying eggs 

 until about two weeks after emergence. The whole life cycle, 

 therefore, from egg to egg, is about one and one-half months 

 under favorable conditions. 



Tlie r\)ngo floor maggf)t is not known to attack any animals 

 liut man in nature, though a closely allied maggot, Cli(vn))U!/in, 

 lives in the burrows of the wart hog and other hairless mam- 



