Eye Myiasis- Sarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) dux Thompson, 1869
In 1989 a medical doctor brought two adult Sarcophagidae, one male, one female and several larvae to me. The adult flies were identified as Sarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) dux Thompson, 1869 = exuberans auct. The larvae had been removed from the right eye of an oil rig worker in Libya. They were first instar sarcophagid larvae showing the typical feature of posterior spiracles located at the bottom of a cavity on the posterior segment, a cavity that can be sealed by the edges coming together like lips.
The adult flies, according to the doctor, were common at the rig and frequently caused problems, landing on the faces of sweating workers and visiting their eyes. They had been reported as causing intense irritation. In this single case the eye was seriously damaged the larvae having penetrated the cornea.
Sarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) dux is found in Albania, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, France (mainland), Greece (mainland), Italy (mainland), Malta, Romania, Sardinia, Sicily, Spain (mainland), Ukraine and Yugoslavia ( Serbia, Kosovo, Voivodina, Montenegro). However the species is mainly Afrotropical and widespread from the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Northwest Province, to Botswana, Mozambique, Togo and Ethiopia to Egypt. In both regions (Palaearctic and Africa) it replaces the Oriento-Australasian species Sarcophaga misera Walker, 1849.
The only previous case of myiasis in this species is that of a specimen in an Egyptian collection reared from a human ear.
Vaginal Myiasis - Eristalis tenax (Linnaeus, 1758)
A last instar larva of this Syrphidae species (the familiar rat-tailed maggot) was removed from the vagina of a drug-dependant and often comatose prostitute at a Belfast, Ireland hospital in 1971. Eristalis tenax is, seemingly, only reported in cases of intestinal myiasis (eggs or first instar larvae swallowed in contaminated drinking water). Urinogenital myiasis usually involves Calliphoridae, Muscidae and Sarcophagidae, although I have also seen Anisopus fenestralis Anisopidae in a few instances.
An account of myiasis is given on the Wikipedia Site.
