Its body is 10–14 mm (0.39–0.55 in) in length – slightly larger than a house fly – and has brilliant, metallic, blue-green or golden coloration with black markings.

The larvae of the fly may be used for maggot therapy, are commonly used in forensic entomology, and can be the cause of myiasis in livestock and pets.

L. sericata is almost identical to its conspecific, L. cuprina, and identification between them requires microscopic examination of two main distinguishing characteristics.

L. sericata is blue-black, as opposed to L. cuprina, which has a metallic green femoral joint in the first pair of legs.

[4] Lucilia sericata is common all over the temperate and tropical regions of the planet, including Europe, Africa, and Australia.

[5] The female lays her eggs in carrion of all kinds, sometimes in the skin or hair of live animals, causing myiasis.

Notably, gravid flies are particularly attracted to sapromyophilous flowers that exude a carrion-like odor, such as the dead horse arum lily.

[12] Females exhibit preference for certain oviposition conditions over others; they attempt to maximize the survival potential of their offspring by laying eggs in only the best places.

[13] Gravid L. sericata females prefer warm temperatures for their offspring, since this decreases development time, so increases survival, and they oviposit faster and with more eggs in warmer carrion.

[15] First, the male identifies a potential mate and pushes her with his head; he then taps her with his fore leg multiple times.

Males are able to recognize potential mates by the frequency at which the light from their iridescent bodies glints through their wings, using the fast and precise visual processing that many flies rely upon for their manoeuvrability and agility in flight.

[16] This shows that, close up, sexually active males recognize a flash frequency rather than an attraction by sight or smell.

The resulting larval masses are able to thermoregulate, raising their own temperature and therefore decreasing their development time, leading to better survival.

This thermoregulation may result from the way larvae forage; they are constantly moving and turning over, which could at least in part lead to the temperature rise experienced in larval masses.

If more larvae are present, they secrete more digestive enzymes, which dissolve more meat and make food more accessible for the whole group.

Similarly, if a group of larvae becomes too large and overcrowding begins to cut into the benefits of heat and collective digestion, larval masses can "decide" to split in two and move to separate areas of a cadaver.

Accordingly, the stage of its development on a corpse is used to calculate a minimum post mortem interval, so that it can be used to aid in determining the time of death of the victim.

Developmental progress is determined with relative accuracy by measuring the length and weight of larvae at various instars while taking into account the temperature, which can affect development time to a large extent.

[22] A simple and effective way to reduce the incidence of such infection is to shear ewes regularly and to dock their tails, removing areas where thick wool can stay damp for long periods of time.

[22] Lucilia sericata has been of medical importance since 1826, when Meigen removed larvae from the eyes and facial cavities of a human patient.

L. sericata has also been shown to lower bacteremia levels in patients infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

[24] Attempts are currently ongoing to extract or synthesize the chymotrypsins found in larval secretions to destroy MRSA without application of the larvae.

[25] Myiasis by L. sericata has been reported,[9] including a case of a dual genital infestation of a married couple wherein the larvae were transmitted from the wife's vagina to the husband's penis through sexual intercourse.

The ongoing medical research, however, centered around the secretions produced by L. sericata as an agent against MRSA and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus,[27] and the larval applications for maggot therapy.

Research is also being conducted on less chemical-intensive measures to combat blowfly strike, since chemical dipping and pouring is not only expensive and time-consuming, but also toxic.