Mortality of Blow-Fly Larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in the digestive tract of Vultures

Abstract

The blow-flies Chrysomyia albiceps and C marginalis are abundant in the Kruger National Park and depend on carrion as a food-source during their larval stages. Vultures occasionally consume maggot-infested meat and the question arises whether such larvae survive passage through the digestive tract and so contribute to the population of blow-flies in that area. Three vultures were fed baboon meat inoculated with blow- fly larvae, and none of the larvae were found to survive.