Do Maggots Come From Eggs?

Maggots are the larva stage of a number of fly species. They hatch from eggs laid by the adult, are usually cream in color and measure from an eighth- to three-quarters of an inch in length.

  1. Life Cycle

    • After hatching from eggs, maggots feed and grow rapidly before their skin hardens and encloses them in shell-like structures in which they metamorphoses into adult flies. The length of each stage of the life cycle depends on the species and the surrounding temperature. In warm weather, the life cycle may take only a few days. But in winter the pupa may lie dormant until spring, when it hatches as the ambient temperature rises.

    Food

    • Most flies lay their eggs on decaying matter so that the hatching maggots have an immediate food source. The maggots feed on the products of putrefaction, growing quickly before pupating where they hatched. Flesh flies may lay their eggs in fresh wounds so that the maggots can then live inside the animal for five to seven days before descending into the soil to pupate and become adults.

    Uses

    • Maggots are food for many birds or reptiles and are used as bait by anglers. Due to their efficiency at eating decaying flesh, they can be used by surgeons to clean contaminated wounds. According to Peta Bee in The London Times, maggots clean damaged and infected flesh 18 times faster than traditional treatments.