The story begins with an exchange of letters and news clippings between Alan, a scientist working on parasite eradication by releasing sterile insects in Colombia, and his wife, Anne Alstein, at home in the U.S., concerning an epidemic of organized murder of women by men.
When the religion initially arises, prior to the organized murders, little is done to stop the ideology's spread, nor is the movement's actions of evicting women from the areas the men control prevented.
However, a minority of scientists have figured out the truth: Some kind of infectious agent is spreading in the atmosphere, turning human male sexual impulses into violent ones.
"The Screwfly Solution" was adapted into a television film by screenwriter Sam Hamm and director Joe Dante for the Showtime network's Masters of Horror series, premiering December 8, 2006.
In the June 1955 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine the subject of screwflies and their eradication through this method is mentioned as a basis for alien invasion in the editorial by H. L. Gold.