Feet Feats
Posted by Twen Barton on September 30, 2005
Q: I'm exploring how a mop bucket with standing water can be infested with maggots. What would be the amount of time it would take for the maggots to have formed in the water? Although the mop bucket is no longer a threat, is there still a threat of infestation to other areas of the kitchen?
State: Kansas
A: Although some species of maggots do live in water, from what you're describing I'm guessing you have some kind of Blow Fly infestation. This is a large family of flies whose young feed mostly on carrion but do not live in water. So, I don't think the maggots were in the water, but were on the mop and may have fallen into the water.
I'm guessing that some fly was attracted to the odor of the mop (I'll bet some kind of food was mopped up earlier) and laid eggs there. Blow Fly eggs hatch in 3-9 days, depending on temperature. If there is enough food on the mop for the young to feed on, they'll go from egg to adult in from 16-35 days, again depending on temperature. I'm sure this wasn't a very pretty sight but you needn't worry about the maggots causing disease nor will other areas of the kitchen be affected unless there is old food lying around. Hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( September 30, 2005)