Cheese fly
Species of fly / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the fly species. For the family, see Piophilidae.
The cheese fly, cheese skipper, or ham skipper (Piophila casei) is a species of fly from the family Piophilidae whose larvae are known to infest cured meats, smoked or salted fish, cheeses and carrion. On the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, the larvae are intentionally introduced into pecorino cheese to produce the characteristic casu martzu. If consumed by humans, the larvae have a chance to survive in the intestine, causing enteric myiasis,[1] though no such cases have been linked to casu martzu dishes.[2]
Quick Facts Scientific classification, Binomial name ...
Cheese fly | |
---|---|
Illustration of Piophila casei | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Family: | Piophilidae |
Genus: | Piophila |
Species: | P. casei |
Binomial name | |
Piophila casei | |
Close