The common green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata, has a brilliant, metallic, golden-green iridescent body which, in flight, produces flashes of light through their wings. Although obviously not discernible to the human eye, the flashes can be interpreted by male flies to assess potential mates - fertile females having a slower wingbeat than young males or old flies!
Lucilia sericata can usually be found around rubbish dumps, faecal material and fresh carrion on which the female lays her eggs, being especially attracted to locations by the chemical cues produced by feeding flies which indicate the food source. The eggs hatch into larvae, or maggots, which feed on the dead and decaying organic tissue by releasing special chemicals which break down the dead tissue into a liquid that is then ingested. Bacteria, taken up with the liquid, are killed in the gut of the maggot.
Because of this feeding behaviour, these fly larvae have been used medicinally for hundreds of years, with reports of the successful treatment of wounds dating back to the Napoleonic wars. A recent review of clinical trials found that larval therapy was more effective and efficient in cleaning wounds than conventional treatments. Current research is studying the reaction of people to the use of maggots as well as exploring the larval secretions in detail: already one secretion, called Seraticin, has found to be effective against numerous pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant strains.
