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 |
which helps create a soupy environment. In warm weather that is conducive to their growth, maggots can consume 60 per cent of a human body in less than a week.
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.
Comments
Cheryl
05 Apr 2010, 12:05
05 Apr 2010, 12:05
My landlord put posion out in the attic to kill squirrels. Now magots are
coming up out of my carpet in the living room. I put tide down on the
carpet to kill them. I want to know how long magots live so I know how
long to leave the tide down. It kills them. How long does it take for a
animal to decay. You can't smell it. Oh by the way I will be pour the
tide in my yard once I vaccum it up. This is grose, my house is always
clean.
kimale
21 Jun 2010, 16:18
21 Jun 2010, 16:18
i saw a fat fly come from the frontroom window and it flew into the kitchen
then came back into the front rooom and back inside the curtin. when i
squeezed the fly, less then a minute baby maggots just started dropping out
of no where and i started jumping aroud freaking out and i was thinkin
could this fly have done this? because i thought flys just dont drop
maggots out like that. they just lay eggs. i really hate maggots and today
was one of the worst days of my life.
Ask the Exterminator
21 Jun 2010, 16:51
21 Jun 2010, 16:51
Flies lay their eggs in moist, decaying matter. Not sure where the maggots
came from, but they didn't hatch instantly from that fly.
francine
13 Jul 2010, 00:44
13 Jul 2010, 00:44
I keep my house clean,and when there is dirty laundry i do my laundry
often... I saw a maggot crawling on my bathroom sealing,I just saw 2-3 and
that is it what do I do ??
Ask the Exterminator
13 Jul 2010, 06:30
13 Jul 2010, 06:30
What kind of maggot? There are many different kinds. Some are flies. Some
are pantry pests. Knowing the kind of pest will tell you where they are
breeding and how to control them.
Anna
27 Jul 2010, 16:30
27 Jul 2010, 16:30
Just found a dead squirrel in my attic.
Maggots are dropping through light openings on main floor and basement. How do I get rid/kill the maggots that might still be in the wall?
Maggots are dropping through light openings on main floor and basement. How do I get rid/kill the maggots that might still be in the wall?
Ask the Exterminator
27 Jul 2010, 16:33
27 Jul 2010, 16:33
You need to open the wall and/or ceiling and have the area cleaned out. No
pesticide will totally eradicate that problem.
Dale
19 Aug 2010, 22:57
19 Aug 2010, 22:57
PLEASE HELP!! I have seen a few small flies (look like drain flies) in my
house recently. The house had been rented out and the septic tank backed
up. I walked into my bathroom today to discover maggots all over the walls
and ceiling of my bathroom! This particular bathroom had not been used in
a while, hence the new discovery. What is the best solution for this
disturbing problem??
Ask the Exterminator
20 Aug 2010, 09:05
20 Aug 2010, 09:05
Just a guess, but the flies are most probably breeding under the tile
floor. Water seeps through hairline cracks in the grout and the flies get
established. The cure is to lift a few floor tiles to see if it the
subfloor is damp. If it is, you will have to lift the entire floor, dry it
out and re-lay the floor.
Sarah
21 Aug 2010, 14:27
21 Aug 2010, 14:27
We have maggots under our sink where we keep our garbage. It is also wet
under the sink and I am not sure what is leaking, but I am going to find
the source of the leak to fix it. Are the maggots feeding of the garbage
which we take out frequently. Or are they feeding off the damp area? I
thought they needed a food source to survive.
Ask the Exterminator
22 Aug 2010, 22:57
22 Aug 2010, 22:57
Flies like a moist area with decaying matter. They won't breed under the
sink unless they have access to something decaying...like the garbage.
jennifer
29 Aug 2010, 01:46
29 Aug 2010, 01:46
i just found about 5 maggots in my kitchen on the ground. i'm not sure
where they came from. we have a tall lined trash can that we take out
daily, we check to see if spoiled food could be the source but didnt find
anything of that sort. could their be more? where did they come from?
Ask the Exterminator
30 Aug 2010, 09:31
30 Aug 2010, 09:31
Somewhere in your kitchen is a decaying piece of food. Could be under the
stove or refrigerator. Could be in the bottom of the garbage can. Could be
stuck in the rubber gasket of the refrigerator door. It's there. You just
have to search for it.
Lilly
01 Sep 2010, 22:11
01 Sep 2010, 22:11
I had a bunch of bottle flies in my condo and was able to get rid of
them..2 weeks later, I started going through some laundry that had been on
the floor in the laundry room for quite sometime and found a maggot on a
sweater. I'm scared they could be all over my place...Will they turn into
flies if they are hatching in my clothing?
Ask the Exterminator
01 Sep 2010, 23:07
01 Sep 2010, 23:07
Yes, they will become adult flies.