![]() However, the heat is a bonus, because it increases the rate of putrefaction, and the rate of digestion. It can get so hot inside a maggot mass, that centrally located maggots have to migrate to the edge to cool down. Their digestive activities are so intense that the corpse heats up in the vicinity of a maggot mass, sometimes reaching 53 celsius. Maggots are gregarious animals and travel around in 'maggot masses'. They wriggle easily through a corpse, secreting digestive enzymes and spreading putrefying bacteria which help create their soupy environment. Spiracles are used for breathing, and the possession of spiracles in a posterior location means that maggots can breath feeding 24 hours a day.īetween their heads and their tails is a muscular, segmented body, a simple intestine and a pair of very large salivary glands. Their rear ends consist of a chamber, in which their anus and posterior spiracles are located. Their front ends are armed with mouth hooks with which they rake in decaying flesh, shredded from the corpse. Maggots (fly larvae) are remarkable eating machines. The predatory maggots of Chrysomya rufifacies are covered with spiny protrusions which deter other predators. Some flies produce predatory maggots that feed on other maggots. ![]() The most distinctive feature for separating larvae of different instars is the structure of the posterior spiracles, though which the larvae respire. Third-instar larvae grow to between 15 mm and 20 mm before wandering off as pre-pupae.Īpart from the change in size, the overall form of fly larvae varies little between instars. The second instar larvae grow to around 10 mm before they shed their skins to become third-instar larvae. ![]() On hatching, first-instar larvae are roughly 2 mm long, growing to about 5 mm before shedding their skin. The larva, or maggot, is the main feeding stage of the fly. ![]()
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