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[Cochliomyia hominovorax] [Dermatobia hominis] [Cuterebra spp.] [Oestrus ovis] [Cordylobia anthropophaga] [Phaenicia spp.] [Phormia regina]

Life cycle of myiasis-causing flies.

Adults of Dermatobia hominis are free-living flies .  Adults capture blood-sucking arthropods (such as mosquitoes) and lay eggs on their bodies, using a glue-like substance for adherence .  Bot fly larvae develop within the eggs, but remain on the vector until it takes a blood meal from a mammalian or avian host.  Newly-emerged bot fly larvae then penetrate the host's tissue .  The larvae feed in a subdermal cavity for 5-10 weeks, breathing through a hole in the host's skin.  Mature larvae drop to the ground and pupate in the environment.  Larvae tend to leave their host during the night and early morning, probably to avoid desiccation.  After approximately one month, the adults emerge to mate and repeat the cycle.  Other genera of myiasis-causing flies (including Cochliomyia, Cuterebra, and Wohlfahrtia) have a more direct life cycle, where the adult flies lay their eggs directly in, or in the vicinity of, wounds on the host .  In Cochliomyia and Wohlfahrtia infestations, larvae feed in the host for about a week, and may migrate from the subdermis to other tissues in the body, often causing extreme damage in the process.