Lucilia Silvarum - Life Cycle

Life Cycle

The life cycle begins with the mating of the male and female species of the fly and upon completion, the female begins oviposition and will lay the eggs on a place of interest such as an open wound, an orifice, or a pile of faeces. Once the eggs have been laid they will take approximately one full day to hatch, which is a short time period among flies. Upon hatching, the larvae will begin the three stages of larvae development consistent with this family. The first stage occurs approximately after 2 days, while the second stage occurs after 2 and a half days, and finally the third stage occurs at approximately 4 to 5 days.

Following the third stage of larval development, the larvae become uneasy and begin to roam away from their original resting place. It is during this stage that the larvae are now deemed a prepupae. This stage typically occurs 8–12 days after the eggs have been laid and will reach sizes up to 12 mm. Finally, the prepupae will begin to become a pupa after approximately 18–24 days, depending upon atmospheric conditions.

Lucilia Silvarum is one of the two species of blowflies that causes myiasis in anurans. This is extremely fatal to the host. The adult blowflies deposit their eggs on the anurans' backs which hatch into larvae after a couple hours. The larvae then burrows into the skin and causes lesions. However, because of their rapid growth rate, the larvae leave the amphibian's body in less than 1 week and migrate into soil in order to pupate. Generally, it takes them nine days to pupate into adult blowflies