Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The larva of the screwworm fly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The larva of the fly Cochliomyia hominivorax (new world screwworm) or Chrysomya bezziana (old word screwworm). The larva can be parasitic in humans and animals and are distinctive in eating living flesh of mammals unlike most maggots which eat only dead flesh.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Self-sustaining screwworm populations were eliminated from the United States in 1966.

    Norvan L. Meyer, USDA veterinarian Post 2011

  • He oversaw a program to battle screwworm, the larvae of a fly that lays its eggs in the wounds of an animal.

    Norvan L. Meyer, USDA veterinarian Post 2011

  • The program used radiation to sterilize millions of screwworm flies.

    Norvan L. Meyer, USDA veterinarian Post 2011

  • The screwworm may make howler monkeys leery of fighting with each other over mates or territory.

    Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer 2009

  • The screwworm may make howler monkeys leery of fighting with each other over mates or territory.

    Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer 2009

  • I jumped on Google to find out more about a screwworm spray the lodge staff had mentioned, and found that the product they were ready to spray on Buddy, Mata Bicheira (Portuguese for Bug Killer), is a dangerously strong organophosphate (chemical insecticide).

    Dr. Lucy 2009

  • The fight might only be a minor scuffle, but if a monkey gets a scratch, a screwworm could make it the last scuffle it ever has.

    Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer 2009

  • The fight might only be a minor scuffle, but if a monkey gets a scratch, a screwworm could make it the last scuffle it ever has.

    Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer 2009

  • The screwworm may make howler monkeys leery of fighting with each other over mates or territory.

    Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer 2009

  • The fight might only be a minor scuffle, but if a monkey gets a scratch, a screwworm could make it the last scuffle it ever has.

    Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer 2009

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