Chrysomya Bezziana - Life Cycle

Life Cycle

The female lays approximately 150-200 eggs at a time. The eggs are laid in wounds and mucous membranes of a live mammal and will hatch after 24 hours. The larvae feed on living tissue and are especially attracted to blood. The larvae will feed on the host tissue for 5–7 days while they complete their development, then they will fall to the ground to pupate.

The pupal stage is temperature dependent with warm weather favoring growth. Depending on the temperature, the pupal stage can last anywhere from 1 week to 2 months. The males become sexually mature after 24 hours of leaving their puparium (the hardened shell the pupae mature in), while females take about 6–7 days to become fully sexually mature. If the weather is tropical (29 °C or 84.2 °F), the entire life cycle will last about 24 days; however, at cooler temperatures (below 22 °C or 71.6 °F), the life cycle can take 2–3 months to complete.

Read more about this topic:  Chrysomya Bezziana

Famous quotes containing the words life and/or cycle:

    Oh sure, everyone goes back to the earth at some point, but life itself is a thread that is never broken, never lost. Do you know why? Because each man makes a knot in the thread during his lifetime: it is the work he has done and that’s what gives life to life in the long stretch of time: the usefulness of man on this earth.
    Jacques Roumain (1907–1945)

    Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
    A medley of extemporanea;
    And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
    And I am Marie of Roumania.
    Dorothy Parker (1893–1967)