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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Calyptratae » Oestroidea » Flesh Flies (Sarcophagidae) » Paramacronychiinae » Wohlfahrtia » Fox Maggot (Wohlfahrtia vigil)

Species Wohlfahrtia vigil - Fox Maggot

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Identification · Remarks · Print References
Mating Flesh Flies - Wohlfahrtia vigil - male - female Flesh Fly - Wohlfahrtia vigil Fly ID? - Wohlfahrtia vigil Wohlfahrtia? - Wohlfahrtia vigil Wohlfahrtia? - Wohlfahrtia vigil Fly 482A 1774 - Wohlfahrtia vigil Another Tachinidae? - Wohlfahrtia vigil Beefly Tan - black spots - Wohlfahrtia vigil
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Calyptratae)
Superfamily Oestroidea
Family Sarcophagidae (Flesh Flies)
Subfamily Paramacronychiinae
Genus Wohlfahrtia
Species vigil (Fox Maggot)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Sarcophaga vigil Walker, 1849 refers to the dark eastern form
Paraphyto opaca Coquillett, 1897 refers to the pale western form
Identification
The western form is distinctive with its tan abdomen with three rows of dark spots. In the eastern form the dark spots are much larger and blend together, leaving four rows of pale spots.
Remarks
Larvae cause myiasis in young mammals, developing under skin. This is the only Sarcophagidae to cause primary myiasis in humans, but normally only in infants less than one year old.
Print References
Gassner, F. X. and Maurice T. James. 1948. The Biology and Control of the Fox Maggot, Wohlfahrtia opaca (Coq.). The Journal of Parasitology 34(1):44-50 (JSTOR)
Stabler, Robert M. et al. 1962. Wohlfahrtia opaca Myiasis in Man in Colorado. The Journal of Parasitology 48(2):209-210. (JSTOR)
Contributed by John F. Carr on 18 June, 2014 - 12:29pm

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