The Photoreceptive Organs of a Flesh Fly Larva, Lucilia Sericata (Meigen): an Experimental and Anatomical Study

Abstract

Flesh fly larvae, although devoid of eyes in the commonly accepted sense, are extremely reactive to light, being sensitive to one hundred and seventy-six hundred thousandths of a candle meter (.00176 C. M.) as shown by Herms (1911). The same author demonstrated that “the functional photoreceptive organs are highly concentrated and equally distributed bilaterally in the immediate region of the oral pole.” He employed a light pencil with which he explored the entire body of the larva in order to locate the sensitive region or regions. Only one region was found where the light caused the larva to turn, and that was at the extreme oral pole.