Tags
biology, Botfly, E.O. Wilson, education, Larva, Mark W. Moffett, nature, parasite, Science, wildlife
The ecologist Mark W. Moffett, specifically his hand, played host to a botfly larva for ten weeks; the portly juvenile emerged at the end of a meeting with E. O. Wilson.
Botfly larvae are obligate parasites, living on – or rather, in – a variety of mammal species. There is only one species which is known to be an obligate parasite of humans, Dermatobia hominis. As Mark describes in the video, D. hominis transfers its egg to the host by way of a mosquito vector. Sensing the warmth of a human body, the hatched larva drops off the insect and burrows beneath the skin where it will feed on the flesh of its host until such time as it emerges, drops to the ground and pupates within the soil.
Via Denim and Tweed.
