{"product_id":"human-botfly-dermatobia-hominis","title":"Human botfly (Dermatobia hominis)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Human Botfly (Dermatobia hominis) is one of those creatures that makes you grateful most parasites are too small to think about. Native to Central and South America, it doesn't lay its eggs on its host directly - instead, it hijacks mosquitoes and other biting flies, gluing its eggs to their bodies so they hatch on contact with warm skin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Human Botfly is found in tropical Central and South America, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Rather than approaching its host directly, the female captures a blood-feeding insect - typically a mosquito or tick - and attaches her eggs to its body. When this unwitting carrier lands on a warm-blooded host, the eggs hatch and the larvae burrow into the skin, where they develop over several weeks in a breathing hole maintained just below the surface. The resulting lump is uncomfortable but rarely dangerous, and the larvae eventually emerge, drop to the ground, and pupate in the soil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis strategy - known as phoresy - is an extraordinary example of evolved indirection. By outsourcing the risky task of host contact to another insect, the Botfly avoids the defensive behaviours (swatting, grooming) that make direct egg-laying hazardous. It is parasitism with a middleman, and it works with disquieting efficiency. For all its unpleasantness from a human perspective, the Botfly's life cycle is one of the most ingenious solutions to a biological problem in the entire insect world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Axisophy","offers":[{"title":"Large (50 × 70 cm | 20 × 28 in)","offer_id":45864086077601,"sku":"APW-BUG-HBF-500x700-AM-COL","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"XLarge (70 × 100 cm | 28 × 40 in)","offer_id":45864086110369,"sku":"APW-BUG-HBF-P-700x1000-AM-COL","price":80.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0483\/1546\/5889\/files\/Axisophy-HumanBotfly-mockup-1.jpg?v=1770826715","url":"https:\/\/axisophy.com\/products\/human-botfly-dermatobia-hominis","provider":"Axisophy","version":"1.0","type":"link"}