maggot
Also known as maggots, fly larva, fly larvae, Brachycera larva, larval fly
thumb|Maggots on a porcupine carcass thumb|Maggots feeding on an opossum [[carrion]] thumb|Common wild pig (boar) corpse decomposition timelapse. Maggots are visible. A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, hoverflies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and crane flies.
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9 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Uses
- Fishing
- Medical treatment
- Forensic science
- Behaviours
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Maggots on a porcupine carcass thumb|Maggots feeding on an opossum [[carrion]] thumb|Common wild pig (boar) corpse decomposition timelapse. Maggots are visible. A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, hoverflies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and crane flies.
==Etymology== "Maggot" is not a technical term and should not be taken as such; in many standard textbooks of entomology, it does not appear in the index at all. In many non-technical texts, the term is used for insect larvae in general. Other sources have coined their own definitions; for example: "The term applies to a grub when all trace of limbs has disappeared" and "Applied to the footless larvae of Diptera". Additionally, in Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera, the author claims maggots "are larvae of higher Brachycera (Cyclorrhapha)."