# maggots

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggots/85331>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 4, 2001, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggots/85331 "2001-10-04T04:11:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggots/85331/21 "2001-10-05T18:19:21Z")

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**bloomsdaygroom** said:

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> As soon as the fly twitched its last, the tiny 2mm larvae started squirming out of its posterior.

Interesting. I know that when you hit a roach with insecticide, it will drop an egg case if it’s carrying one, which is why roach control can take three or more months to really get a handle on. Apparently other insects also have this survival technique.

By the way, I vote for maggocide. Unless you give them names and train them to sing and dance like the Osmonds did, there’s no reason for keeping them alive (the flies, not the Osmonds. [sub]Although…[/sub] ). Flies are dirty, disgusting creatures carrying pestilence and plague, so do humanity a favor and pour some ammonia or something into your Ziploc bag and rid the world of these little scourges.

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**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggots/85331/22 "2001-10-05T19:04:05Z")

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What a great thread. You are all truly acting in the service of science!

Back to the OT frankenfly issue: what exactly is going on here? Are we just returning the osmotic pressure of the fly’s cells to normal or something? Is the reverse experiment similar (bury a fly in salt, wait 'til he gives up, then drop him into water…)?

PS–My vote: let them pupate, then just toss the damned jar (sealed) into the trash.

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**Author:** ![Firx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Firx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Firx)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggots/85331/23 "2001-10-07T22:01:05Z")

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I think we can assume that the fly, although apparenly dead, is not. According to Bert Holldobler and E.O. Wilson in _The Ants_,

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> Surprisingly, some species are even able to survive under water. Queens and workers of _Formica_ species can live for up to 14 days or longer when submerged, during which time they are in an anesthetized condition and their oxygen consumption falls to between 5 and 20 percent of the usual resting rate.

Of course, they are talking about ants, not flies. I can’t remember exactly where, but I recall reading that many other insects can also survive underwater via similar reduction in oxygen use. It seems to fit the bill here, anyway, although I really don’t know whether it can be applied to flies.

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**Author:** ![Glenoled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Glenoled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glenoled)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggots/85331/24 "2001-10-07T22:46:00Z")

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I’ll go with what Firx said, and offer up the thought that the salt just pulls the water out of the fly, which is why it comes back to conciousnous… (same reason you eat salty foods when on a trip, so it absorbs water in your system, and you don’t need to go pee as often… ?)

Glenoled

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