

Use insect repellent where possible to keep flies away.īecause mango worms can lay eggs in clothing, avoid leaving bedding or clothing on the ground. Keep your area clean of feces and remove anything that could attract flies, such as rotting fruit. Over the next few weeks, it will pupate and transform from a maggoty worm into an adult fly.Ī post shared by Tats Usui you live in an area with a large population of mango flies, it can be hard to protect your dog, but there are things you can do. The worm will molt multiple times as it grows, and the boil will begin to fill with pus.įinally, when the mango worm is ready to pupate, it will burst out of its boil and fall to the ground.

The boil will be red and solid with a small hole in the center. At first, they are painless and nearly unnoticeable, but over time a painful boil will develop over each mango worm.
#Mango worms skin#
Once mango worms have found a host, they stay just under the surface of the skin for 1-2 weeks, eating the inner skin to continue to grow. They burrow into thin skin more quickly than thick skin, making them a greater danger to smaller and younger dogs and people. When a mammal sits or steps on the sand, the worms start burrowing into the skin. They wait near the surface of the sand, waving about and waiting for something to touch them. The eggs hatch within three days, and for the next several days the tiny worms wait for a host to come. Mango fly eggs are small enough that they can barely be seen without a microscope. Eggs are usually laid in dry sand that has been contaminated with feces or in clothing that has been left on the ground. Life Cycle of Mango FlyĪdult mango flies lay eggs in batches of about 100 to 300 at a time. In severe cases, mango worms can burrow deeper into the tissues, leading to gangrene, serious infection, and death. In most cases, a mango worm infestation will lead to great pain and discomfort as the worms grow, followed by a high chance of infection. Mango worms are parasitic, burrowing under the skin of a host mammal until they are ready to pupate. Because the larvae and eggs are known to get into clothing, they can ride along in luggage and cause infestations outside of their main environment. Although mango flies are mainly found in Africa, there have been rare cases in other parts of the world, transported via travel. They are native to Central Africa and survive best in hot and humid environments that can be tropical or subtropical. A post shared by Dr Andrew Rosser worms are the larvae of the mango or tumbu fly.
