Subject: botflies
Date: May 19 15:35:37 1994
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


I couldn't help but respond to the lengthy human botfly (Dermatobia
hominis) posting from Birdchat that Skip Russell sent.

When I lived in Costa Rica in 1967, I became the (proud?) owner of 5 botfly
larvae, all in one arm. It took a week of scratching "mosquito bites" that
I got at the La Selva field station to realize what in fact was going on.
By the way, I have read that the live larvae are laid on the head of a
mosquito, and they travel down the proboscis as the mosquito is biting you.
I too tried the "slab of bacon" method with no luck at all, just couldn't
get it airtight enough I guess.

In no way was this a disgusting experience. I felt like Jerry in "Tropical
Nature" (parenthetically, one of the all-time great books on nature; don't
pass it up) in being part of the great web of life. Notwithstanding several
of the postings, I see nothing weird about wanting to leave one of these
relatively harmless creatures in you to see what emerges. However, they do
hurt when they occasionally twist and hit a nerve, and parts of my digested
flesh and botfly feces would stain the sheets every night, necessitating
frequent washing or at least great tolerance.

However, they itched constantly, and, one day as I was squeezing one to
relieve the itching, it protruded from its little breathing hole a few
millimeters. I called my wife over and she grabbed it with fine forceps,
and pulling very gently so it wouldn't break, eventually pulled it out (it
held on with its bristles all the way!). Thus emboldened, we made short
shrift of the other 4 (although I had been told not to pull them out, as
they might break and become infected). I too had them pickled in a vial for
quite some time (I think I threw them out when I finally threw away my
pickled appendix). If they hadn't itched so unmercifully, I might have let
one of mine develop to pupation. In any case, it really was a great
experience--one of those many experiences that, although quickly ended,
give you a lifetime story.

Dennis Paulson
dpaulson at ups.edu