| Do you know
what a Human Botfly is?....... (Note: If you are searching for the
original Vexman.com site, click this link) |
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While viewing the very active volcano Arenal in the small town of La Fortuna in Costa Rica Mark was bitten by a mosquito. This happened on November 24th, 2000 at night in the viewing area of Los Lagos. |
| Upon returning home from Costa Rica, Mark began to experience a strange pain
in his SCROTUM. He finally mentioned it to me (his wife) & we talked about what it
could be. Spider bite? Infected mosquito bite? Then I remembered reading something in the
guide book from our 1st (honeymoon) trip about a weird bug in Costa Rica. The guide
book Explore Costa Rica by Harry S. Pariser said.... "Botfly (Dermatobia
hominis), whose larvae mature inside flesh. An egg-laden female botfly captures a
night-flying female mosquito and glues her eggs on to it. When the mosquito is released
and bites a victim, the host's body heat triggers an egg to hatch. It falls off and
burrows in. The larva secures itself with two anal hooks, secreting an antibiotic into its
burrow, which staves off competing bacteria and fungi. Its spiracle pokes out of the tiny
hole, and a small mound forms which will grow to the size of a goose egg before the mature
larva falls out. Should you be unfortunate enough to fall prey to a larva - an extremely
unlikely occurrence for the average visitor - you have three cures available....
Note: |
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