Bot Flies

There is a funny David Sedaris story in the current New Yorker called ‘It’s Catching: Worms, Germs, and Christmas‘. Part of the tale recounts Maw Hamrick’s run in with a parasite in the Congo. The parasite of Sedaris’ story sounds frighteningly similar to the disturbing bot fly parasite that I had the unfortunate pleasure of knowing when I last traveled in Belize.

I’m a bit unclear of the biology, but basically a mosquito that was carrying the bot fly larva bit me. The larva went under my skin and for the next four days there was little I could do but let this thing fester inside me and mature to the point where it decided to leave my body freely. Once it’s ready, the little guy poked it’s little head out of a whole in the skin and began to unhook it’s claws and make its way out. Only at that time, was I able to squeeze the little fucker out and feed it unceremoniously to one of the nearby dogs that was hungry for the little protein scooby snack.

Not being very familiar with these horrible creatures, I of course was deeply troubled and grief stricken the entire time I acted as “host” to my newly acquired friend. All of this was quite amusing to the locals who thought nothing of having several of these bot flies occupy their body. There was even small stakes betting on larva maturation and other such odd behavior that made me conclude that all these bot flies had begun to leave long lasting neuropsychological damage on many of the locals.

See also: another good bot fly story.