Don't Mess with Moose Botflies

Here's a command:

Maybe you're a Bing enthusiast, or you're still into Ask Jeeves! I, for one, do not mind the monopoly that is Google over the internet. Whatever the case, go to your usual search bar and type in "moose botflies." You will find a slew of unpleasant article titles, such as

"Swedish Insects Shoot Larvae Into Victim's Eyes"

and

"Fly shot maggots into woman's eye"

Unpleasant? Yeah.

Moose bot flies fall into the larger category of nose and pharyngeal bot flies, which are obligate parasites whose larvae inhabit the nasal, pharyngeal and throat cavities of various mammals. Though they come in several different host-specific species, ranging from cervids (deer) to horse to sheep to caribuou, their parasitic effects on mammals are huge. Mammals that are parasitized by these nose or pharyngeal botflies tend to be heavily infected, and have high mortality rates. However, in some cases, the larval population inhabiting the host is small, and does minimal damage to the host.

The moose botfly, or Cephenemyia ulrichii, sometimes also called an elk botfly or moose nose botfly or moose throat botfly, enters its mammalian reservoir as a third instar. After mating, the adult female moose botfly seeks a host for her offspring. She usually looks for the mucosal insides of moose and other cervid pharyngeal passages. When she finds the target for her already hatched larvae, she shoots the larvae at the host animal's nostrils. The larvae then travel into the nose as they feed on the mucus. From there, the larvae wriggle down to the throat where they reach their third stage of development.

Sometimes, humans are the unlucky targets of female moose botflies, and they shoot their larvae into the eyes of humans who are casually strolling in the woods. Swedish scientists suppose that, when this happens, the female botflies mistake human eyes for the moose nostrils. The sensation has been described as the feeling one gets when "slapped in the face by a branch." Larvae can only make it to the second stage of development in humans, which means that adult female botflies are making poor life decisions when they choose to shoot larvae in our eyes. But we should still know to watch out--pain and conjunctivitis (eye infection) are likely to result from attacks by these guys.

Weirdly, I could not find a video of a moose botfly shooting larvae into a host's nostrils. Someone's gotta film that so I could watch it and send it to you!