Sheep-strike Greenbottle

• Its larvae, reared under sterile conditions, are used medically for maggot therapy: applied to an ulcer, they remove the necrotic tissue with a precision no scalpel can match, disinfect the wound and stimulate healing — a treatment authorised in several countries.
• It is one of the reference species in forensic entomology: the age of its larvae allows the time since death to be estimated with considerable accuracy.
• In sheep farming it causes flystrike by laying its eggs in damp or soiled wool, a serious health and economic problem.
• Its larvae are used medically to clean chronic wounds: they eat only necrotic tissue and spare healthy tissue, and their secretions inhibit bacterial growth. The technique is called maggot therapy, and the FDA regulates the maggots as a medical device.
• As early as the sixteenth century, Ambroise Paré described the healing of a skull wound in the presence of fly larvae.
• It is one of the key species in forensic entomology: the age of its larvae allows the post-mortem interval to be estimated.
• At the same time it is a serious pest of sheep, because its larvae attack living tissue as well.
• Transgenic strains have been developed that secrete a human growth factor to speed healing.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (insect)

Habitat and environment

Carrion, refuse and animal wounds, in rural and urban areas

Gestation / incubation

The eggs hatch between 18 and 21 hours after laying

Litter / clutch size

Clutches of about 200 eggs; total output per female has been estimated in the field at between 130 and 172 eggs

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Lucilia sericata · Animal Diversity Web y ScienceDirect (puesta) · PubMed 11583452 (fecundidad en campo) · Ficha de especie de Lucilia sericata · ScienceDirect · Animal Diversity Web, Lucilia sericata