Cochliomyia hominivorax

Cochliomyia hominivorax, the New World screwworm fly, or simply screwworm or screw-worm, is a species of parasitic fly that is well known for the way in which its larvae (maggots) eat the living tissue of warm-blooded animals. It is present in the New World tropics. Of the five species of Cochliomyia, only C. hominivorax is parasitic; a single parasitic species of Old World screwworm fly is placed in a different genus (Chrysomya bezziana). Infestation of a live vertebrate animal by a maggot is technically called myiasis. While the maggots of many fly species eat dead flesh, and may occasionally infest an old and putrid wound, screwworm maggots are unusual because they attack healthy tissue. This increases the chances of infection, and damaged tissue also attracts more of these flies .

The New World screwworm fly was the first species upon which the sterile insect technique was tested, and then applied in a natural environment, resulting in the control and systematic eradication of this species from North and Central America, as well as parts of the Caribbean since the 1950s. It is still widespread in tropical and subtropical parts of the Caribbean and South America, and import of infected animals from endemic areas risks reintroducing the fly to areas where it has been eradicated.