the fly) have narrow darker bands and the legs are black or dark-brown. Only the bases of the wings are infuscated; the wings have a glassy appearance. The anterior spiracles (small openings on the surface for the respiratory system) range from dark-brown to orange. Another close relative, Chrysomya megacephala, occurs in many of the same regions as C. bezziana; therefore, it is important to be able to distinguish between the flies. The male fly can be distinguished from Chrysomya megacephala by their eye facets. C. bezziana does not have a boundary dividing the upper and lower eye facets, while C. megacephala does have a boundary distinguishing the upper and lower portions. The female does not have as distinct differences and cannot be as easily distinguished from C. megacephala, but they can be identified by analyzing the frons (the uppermost part of the head of an insect). The frons of C. bezziana is more parallel, while C. megacephala has a frons that is distinctly narrow in the center. Larvae The third-instar larvae are smooth, lacking obvious body processes except on the last segment. The posterior spiracles are not hidden in the body cavity, and the peritreme of these spiracles is open. The larvae can be distinguished from its New-World relative C. hominivorax by observing the dorsal tracheal trunks. Those of C. hominivorax are darkly pigmented from the 12th segment to the 10th or sometimes 9th segment, while those of C. bezziana are only pigmented for the last half of the 12th segment. The anterior spiracle has 4-6 lobes, with 7 on occasion. Life cycle The female lays approximately 150-200 eggs at a time. The eggs are laid in wounds and mucous membranes of a live mammal and will hatch after 24 hours. The larvae feed on living tissue and are especially attracted to blood. The larvae will feed on the host tissue for 5–7 days while they complete their development, then they will fall to the ground to pupate. The pupal stage is temperature dependent with warm weather favoring growth. Depending on the temperature, the pupal stage can last anywhere from 1 week to 2 months. The males become sexually mature after 24 hours of leaving their puparium (the hardened shell the pupae mature in), while females take about 6–7 days to become fully sexually mature. If the weather is tropical (29 °C or 84.2 °F), the entire life cycle will