Cheese Flies and
Maggot Cheese

Cheese flies are black dipterous insects attracted to the cheesy odor that emanates from a corpse during the later stages of decomposition, particularly when the body is undergoing butyric fermentation. They are also common pests of cheeses and hams.

The Cheese Skipper, Piophila casei, has a worldwide distribution and is named after the behaviour of its maggots. When disturbed the larvae flex and release their bodies, skipping up to 15 cm (6 inches) into the air.

Although arriving after the bulk of the body has been consumed by the pioneer flies, cheese flies can occur in large numbers - 4,363 flies emerged from pupae derived from a single sheep's head.

Cheese Skippers (also called Hoppers) have been found in coffins buried up to 3 m deep and in corpses up to 10 years old.

In Sardinia, Italy, Piophila casei larvae are deliberately introduced to pecorino cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down the cheese's fats. Through the digestive action of the maggots, the cheese's texture becomes very soft, with a liquid (dubbed lagrima, i.e. tear) seeping out. Casu modde cheese, also called casu marzu or, in Italian, formaggio marcio, goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider to be decomposition. The larvae themselves appear as transparent, white worms, about 8 mm (1/3 inch) long.

Casu modde cheese is typically enjoyed with Sardinian bread (pane carasau) and Cannonau, a strong red wine. Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not. Folk wisdom in Sardinia holds that still-living larvae are an assurance that decomposition has not advanced to a toxic state.

There is a risk of enteric myiasis when consuming casu modde cheese, i.e. intestinal larval infection. Piophila casei larvae can pass through the stomach alive (human stomach acids do not usually kill them) and take up residency for some period of time in the intestines, where they can cause serious lesions as they attempt to bore through the intestinal walls. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, pain in the abdomen, and bloody diarrhea. Because of these health threats, or simply because it is considered a contaminated product, casu modde cheese cannot be legally sold in Italy. Within Sardinia, enforcement of the ban is sporadic and the cheese is available as a black market item, selling for about three times pecorino's price.


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