1930 ] 
Development of Dermatobia hominis 
327 
REARING THE LARVAE OF DERMATOBIA HOMINIS 
LINN., IN MAN 
By Lawrence H. Dunn 
Medical Entomologist and Assistant Director, 
Gorgas Memorial Laboratory, 
Panama, R. de P. 
The following article presents some observations on 
the development of the larvse of Dermatobia hominis when 
reared in man, and on the effects of an infestation of these 
larvse upon the host. The results of studies on other phases 
of the interesting life-history and habits of this species 
of parasitic diptera will be presented in later reports. 
In October, 1929, while seated at the edge of a small 
stream near Summit, Canal Zone, I captured a fly which 
was hovering about and which had several times alighted 
on my right knee. This fly proved to be a species of 
Limnophora, not a blood-sucker, and a number of eggs 
were found attached to her abdomen. An examination of 
these showed them to be eggs of Dermatobia hominis. 
Many of them had developed to the larval stage, the 
operculum at the hatching end being open and the minute 
larva inside of each being active and ready to leave its 
shell when a suitable host was provided. 
Through the acquiring of these eggs a good opportunity 
was afforded for studying the development of the larval 
stage of D. hominis with man as the host, and in view of 
this it was decided to allow two of the larvse to enter the 
skin of my arm. 
October 9. At 4 P. M., about six hours after capturing 
the egg-bearing fly, the glass tube in which it was confined 
was unstoppered and inverted on the skin of my left fore- 
arm. The tube, which was about four inches long and 
one inch in diameter, allowed room for considerable move- 
ment on the part of the fly. The latter was quite active 
