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Tumbu-fly

Cordylobia anthropophaga

Photo by Davidbygott
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

Cordylobia anthropophaga, the mango fly, tumbu fly, tumba fly, putzi fly or skin maggot fly is a species of blow-fly common in East and Central Africa. It is a parasite of large mammals (including humans) during its larval stage (as shown in photos here)

Habitat:

Human flesh (my arm).

Notes:

Adult flies deposit eggs on damp ground or laundry. Young maggots seek a suitable host and then burrow into skin. When fully grown, they make their way out and pupate in soil, to continue the cycle.

I had about ten of these and would be very happy never to see another one.

Reference Links:

Cordylobia anthropophaga

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)
cseltzer
Oh my! Thanks for including a scale in the photo so we can see how big it was. Almost 1 cm! Yikes!
Davidbygott
it didn't hurt as much as you'd think. In fact, it was in there for at least a week and I flew home with it, not knowing it was still there...but one night it woke me up as it took another bite of me, and I decided this relationship must end.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
East African Biodiversity

Tags

Photographed
PublishedSeptember 22, 2014

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