[13] The larvae use proteolytic enzymes in their excreta (as well as mechanical grinding by mouth hooks) to break down proteins on the livestock or corpse on which they are feeding.

[citation needed] Adult blowflies are occasional pollinators, being attracted to flowers with strong odors resembling rotting meat, such as the American pawpaw or dead horse arum.

One study showed the visual stimulus a blowfly receives from its compound eyes is responsible for causing its legs to extend from its flight position and allow it to land on any surface.

In the Chihuahuan desert of Mexico, a fungus, Furia vomitoriae (Rozsypal) Humber (1989) (from the family of Entomophthoraceae) affects bluebottle flies.

It forms masses of conidiophores erupting through the intersegmental areas (or clear bands) on the abdominal dorsum of the flies and eventually kills them.

[citation needed] Their typical habitats are temperate to tropical areas that provide a layer of loose, damp soil and litter where larvae may thrive and pupate.

[citation needed] Sources: MYIA,[17] FE,[18] Nomina,[19] A/O DC[20] This is a selected list of genera from the Palearctic, Nearctic, Malaysia (Japan), and Australasia: Blowflies have caught the interest of researchers in a variety of fields, although the large body of literature on calliphorids has been concentrated on solving the problem of myiasis in livestock.

Myiasis in humans is clinically categorized in six ways: dermal and subdermal, facial cavity, wound or trauma, gastrointestinal, vaginal, and generalized.

This fly is distributed throughout the Old World, including Southeast Asia, tropical and subtropical Africa, some countries in the Middle East, India, the Malay Peninsula, the Indonesian and Philippine Islands, and Papua New Guinea.

[56] The secondary screwworm (Cochliomyia macellaria) has become one of the principal species on which to base post mortem interval estimations because its succession and occurrence on decomposing remains has been well defined.

[citation needed] The bacterium which causes paratuberculosis in cattle, pigs and birds (M. a. avium) has been isolated and recovered from these flies through several different experiments.

Although strike is not limited to blow flies, these maggots are a major source of this skin invasion, causing lesions, which, if severe enough, may be lethal.

Insecticides are available for blow fly prevention (typically containing cypermethrin[60]), and precautionary measures may be taken, such as docking tails, shearing, and keeping the sheep healthy overall.

Adult flies may be able to spread pathogens via their sponging mouthparts, vomit, intestinal tract, sticky pads of their feet, or even their body or leg hairs.

With the ability to lay hundreds of eggs in a lifetime and the presence of thousands of larvae at a time in such close proximity, the potential for transmission is high, especially at ideal temperatures.

[64] Blow flies are usually the first insects to come in contact with carrion because they have the ability to smell dead animal matter from up to 1 mi (1.6 km) away.

Since development is highly predictable if the ambient temperature is known, blow flies are considered a valuable tool in forensic science.