Traumatic myiasis is a debilitating and sometimes fatal condition
of humans and animals caused by the feeding and development of
fly larvae on the hosts dead or living tissues, usually at the
skin surface or in body orifices. A critical phase in the life
cycle of these species is host location. This is usually down to
the adult female fly, 'gravid' with eggs or young larvae ready to
be laid. One question being addressed by the Veterinary Research
Programme (Department of Entomology) within the Biomedical
Sciences Theme is, 'how do these flies locate their hosts?.
Knowledge of this can help in designing new ways of controlling
these flies, by interfering with their natural host location.
There has been much research on how biting flies
find their hosts, for example, mosquitoes, tsetse flies, horse flies.
However, the same behaviour by myiasis causing flies has been
little studied. Within the group of flies causing traumatic
myiasis, there is a fascinating evolutionary trend - from species
that feed only on dead vertebrate tissues, such as carrion, to
species that are obligate parasites, feeding only on living
tissues (You can view two images of an elephant carcass at the start of and
seven days after infestation by blowflies that usually breed in carrion but that can cause myiasis).
Such trends are evident in several genera of blowflies
(Calliphoridae) and fleshflies (Sarcophagidae) and the Veterinary
Research Programme is interested in elucidating the adaptations
in behaviour and morphology that followed the change from non-parasitic to parasitic mode of life. Work on this problem has
included studies on screwworm flies in Mexico and on a variety of
species in Europe.
Illustrations
This project is part of the Biomedical Sciences Reseach Theme.
For further information contact:
Dr. Martin Hall
Medical and Veterinary Division
The Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 5BD UK
Tel: +44 (0) 171 938 9451 Fax: +44 (0) 171 938 8937/9395
Email: mjrh@nhm.ac.uk
