# Human Bot Flies in Southern Mexico?



## bannishg (Nov 17, 2011)

I'm sure this isn't the first post on the topic, but I doubt they'd answer my question(s). I am planning a trip to Southern Mexico, specifically the states of Chiapas, Tabasco and Quintana Roo to observe the Mayan ruins, as well as a little jungle hiking. 

Dermatobia hominis, the human botfly, as many of you are aware is the world's most friendly, loveable insect, that just has a way of getting under your skin. No need to repeat it's modus operandi here, just google the name and you will find out more than I could ever explain here. Most stories regarding Mr. Botty involve horror stories of vacationers and military personel coming back from Central or South America with a maggot in their back, however, a friend returning from Chiapas has warned me that the flies don't merely stop at the Guatemalan or Belizean border. 

While observing the Mayan Ruins in Palenque, he was bitten by several mosquitos, two of which led to a bout with myiasis, both in his arm. 

This was disappointing to me, and though I knew that the human bot fly is found in southernmost Mexico, I thought that they were very rare beyond Belize. They are actually fairly common in Chiapas and southern Quintana Roo. They are most common below 14 degrees North (Honduras, Nicaragua), fariry common below 18 degrees (Belize and parts of the five southernmost Mexican states), and reported but extremely rare up to 21 degrees North (just below Cancun). 

Did anybody else here ever have a run-in with a bot fly in Mexico?

Greg

But I still want to go through with my trip, even if it means having to bathe in deet and wearing long sleeves and sweatpants in 90 degree weather.


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## bannishg (Nov 18, 2011)

Nobody?

That's a bummer. I was hoping to hear some graphic stories... there has to be somebody here with eyeball myasis lol!


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