A tiny cut can lead to severe pain or even death if screw-worm flies are around. These parasitic insects lay eggs in a host's open wounds. When the eggs hatch the tiny larvae dig in, and these maggots burrow deep into their host, eating flesh, blood and tissue as they go. The flies are a menace to wild animals as well as pets and cattle; if the fly's eggs hatch in the victim's ear or nose, the maggots can eat right into the brain and cause death.
Sticky Bombs: This insect's eggs are sticky, so it can lay them on the side of or even upside-down on a host's body. The eggs are "glued" on in places where most hosts can't reach them.
Kids Come First: An adult screw-worm fly is so intent on breeding that it doesn't even eat. Females lay up to 200 eggs at a time, and can mate once a day for the few weeks it survives.
Worming In[]
These flies lay eggs in infected cuts where maggots can thrive.
Female screw-worm flies lay their eggs on any type of warm-blooded creature, from birds to cows, and even humans! Open sores such as cuts, scrapes-even a newborn animal's umbilical cord-give the larvae that hatch a perfect starting point. From the wound, the maggots burrow into their host's flesh and eat every bit of tissue in their way before becoming adults. On sheep, female flies lay their eggs near the host's eyes or nose-and the screw-worm larvae burrow into the victim's brain.
Vicious Circle: Screw-worm infestations can become a serious problem. Females often lay eggs in wounds that were created by other screw-worms. If this cycle repeats a few times, the larvae can eat so much of an animal's flesh that the host will die within two weeks.
Germ Warfare? Screw-worm flies like damp habitats, but have mysteriously shown up in dry areas of Africa and the Middle East in recent years. Some think the flies are being used as biological weapons by other governments.
Putting the Screws[]
- Attracted to the wound where a cow was recently branded, a female screw-worm fly lands on the open sore and sticks her eggs to the side of it.
- After several hours, the maggots hatch and begin to burrow into the cows flanks. The hungry larvae devour the host's flesh with their tiny, hook-like jaws.
- Another female is attracted to these fresh wounds, and lays another batch of eggs. After these larvae hatch and burrow, the cow loses most of its strength, and might die.
Trading Card[]
Trivia[]
- It's one of the three creartures to have two Trading Cards needed for completion, along with Postosuchus and Scorpion Men.
- The two scientific names listed refer to the Old World Screw-worm (Chrysomya bezziana) and the New World Screw-worm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) respectively.