Technologies

Lifecycle of a blow fly
Blow fly maggot
Blow fly puparium
Blow fly (Phaenicia sericata)
Adult Black Blow Fly and Puparia (Phormia regina)
Photomicrograph of mandibular sclerite of maggot, 1935
Photomicrograph of left posterior stigma of maggot, 1935
Adult Black Blow Fly and Puparia (Phormia regina)
Adult Black Blow Fly and Puparia (Phormia regina)
Division of Entomology, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University
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Life cycle of the black blow fly

Adult female blow flies arrive within minutes to lay eggs on a cadaver. Each deposits about 250 eggs in the natural openings of the body and open wounds. The eggs hatch into first-stage maggots within 24 hours. These feed and then molt into second-stage maggots, which feed for several hours, and then molt into third-stage maggots. Masses of third-stage maggots may produce heat, which can raise the temperature around them more than 10° C. After more feeding, the third-stage maggots move away from the body and metamorphize into adult flies.