Maggots In The House
A reader asks: I found maggots in the house. Do maggots bite?
Dear Reader: Finding maggots in the house is certainly disconcerting. Maggots are associated with filth and no one wants to feel like they are living in an unclean environment. That said, to answer your question, maggots do not bite.
Maggots do not have teeth, but they do have mouth hooks which are modified mandibles they use to rake in decaying flesh. They also have some rough bumps around their body which scratch and poke dead tissue they are feeding upon.
Maggots wriggle through a corpse secreting digestive enzymes and spreading putrefying bacteria
 Maggot Mouth Hooks |
If you found maggots in the house you certainly need to correct the problem that is creating the environment in which they are living. That process will kill maggots. Then, you won't have to worry about biting maggots.