DIY Bot Fly

Entomologists are not like other people. Lucky enough to score a cool parasitic larva burrowing in your skin after a visit to Central America? The obvious thing to do is to rear your maggot out in your body until it's an adult fly. For science.

In the last week, two entomologists proudly issued bot fly "birth" announcements of their little monsters. For one of them, it was his second try at rearing out the flesh-eating maggots to adults. (His first unsuccessful attempt at bot fly rearing in 2013 did result in a research publication, though, so it wasn't a wasted effort.)

Piotr Nasrecki documented the entire process of his bot fly maggot rearing in a fascinating video. Yes, there is some blood. But you'll also learn a lot about flies. And entomologists.

Below are excerpts from both scientists' accounts of their maggoty pregnancies; I highly recommend reading both. Both Naskrecki and Wizen have written great explanations of the bot fly life cycle, with beautiful photos.

"Raising two dipteran [fly] children was an interesting experience. It was embarrassing on a few occasions, when both of my arms started bleeding profusely in public; painful at times, to the point of waking me up in the middle of the night; and inconvenient during the last stages of the flies’ development, when I had to tape plastic containers to my arms to make sure that I will not lose the emerging larvae. But other than those minor discomforts it was really not a big deal. Perhaps my opinion would have been different had the bot flies decided to develop in my eyelids, but I actually grew to like my little guests, and watched their growth with the same mix of pleasure and apprehension as when I watch the development of any other interesting organism under my care."
Piotr Naskrecki

Sitting at my dentist chair for 40 minutes and suffering through the shrill sound of the ultrasonic cleaner, I suddenly started to feel contractions from my chest. Oh, no. Not now. Is it really happening? If it happens now this will be a visit I will never forget. Am I getting into labor?... In the end, the contractions I felt at the dentist were a false alarm, and I could not feel anything when the larva eventually emerged.
Gil Wizen

Who are these guys, anyway?

Piotr Naskrecki is an entomologist at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University and the author of several amazing photography books featuring insects and animals.

Gil Wizen worked for the Zoological Museum of Tel Aviv University, and now is a photographer that contributes to the "Meet Your Neighbors" project. He is skilled at rearing arthropods, including insects.

What, Me Worry?

Don't worry about human botflies unless you happen to be living or traveling in Central and South America. You can avoid (or at least reduce) botflies by using recommended insect repellents and wearing long-sleeved clothing and pants.

Want more?

Here's another entomologist experiencing the miracle of birth:

Some excellent images of bot fly larvae before, during and after removal.

Here, you might need a kitten about now.