Mango flies

Mango flies are really cool. The female fly lays her eggs in soil contaminated with feces or urine or on damp clothing or bed linens. The larvae hatch in 2-3 days and attach to unbroken skin and penetrate the skin, producing a swelling similar to a boil...

The worm can be squeezed out after using a hot compress - Anna had to go through the procedure twice when we lived in Liberia - and out pops the mango fly's larvae - an all singing, all dancing maggot:

So imagine our kids horror today when Sally gave Noah a plate of chopped mango, and a mango-maggot wriggled out of the fruit and across his plate. Both he and Anna spat out their last mouthfuls of mango and shrieked, convinced that they were infested with enough mango worms to eventually burst through their stomach walls. How I laughed! Olly