Why Do Maggots Wriggle?

[Elton]

Posted on behalf of a site visitor:

 

quote:

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Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I am a college student in the North-West.  I am studyinh biology at A level and as a part of our studies we have to investigate how temeprature effects the wriggling of moggots.

 

I would be grateful if you could tell me why the maggots wiggle in the first place and would accept any insight into why increasing temperatures, increases wiggling very freely.

 

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[Peter Sharpe]

And they say that A-Level standards aren't dropping!

[Peter Waller]

In the first place they wriggle because they can! I would guess that the answer is fairly obvious, but it could be wrong! Heat increases the maggots metabolism, and also heat and movement increases the breakdown of decaying flesh that maggots feed on. Also there is probably a need for maggots to allow air to circulate between themselves and their fellows, hence they keep moving.

 

By the cringe, we're right clever clogs here on A.N. Clever, but not always right!!

[Waterman]

For survival! Looking at a pint of maggots in a baitbox they appear to just be wriggling but take one out and put him on the floor and he'll crawl off and hide. Whilst in the baitbox they have no means of escape and nowhere to hide so appear to be aimlessly wriggling. The same principle applies when hooked. My theory anyway

[mpbdsnu]

Elton:

Posted on behalf of a site visitor:

 

 

quote:

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Dear Sir/Madam,

 

..why the maggots wiggle in the first place

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....cos they ain't got legs!

[Spindle]

'cos they're scared!!!

[Chris Plumb]

I think they'll always try to wriggle away from any light source - perfering the sanctuary of any dark crevice -as anyone who ever kicked their maggots over on the bank will testify!

 

Chris

[chesters1]

arn`t they trained to wiggle :confused: i thought natural maggots just hung on a hook not drawing attention to their captive state and shop maggots went through generations of selective breeding to improve hook wriggleness ,the reason they wriggle in the box is that they are "working out" to strenghten the wriggle muscle ,if one is dropped it is programmed to search for a hook but without eyes they usually just blunder into crevices . they wriggle more in warm temperatures because there are more natural baits available in the pond therefore they have to wriggle more to attract fish. in cold temperatures they can loosen up and conserve their energy its all in the wriggle gene.thesis complete A+

 

[ 21. November 2002, 07:00 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

[snotty]

The natural inclination of a maggot is to find food and eat! if it is placed in a baitbox with lots of others it will attempt to move away as it does on the bank when you drop it, but its neighbours do not provide it with enough grip to propel itself along... in much the same way as a human body struggles to make much headway when immersed in a ballpool... thus its natural rhythmic movement is manifested as wriggling as opposed to crawling (which is its intention).

 

You could do an experiment to prove this theory utilising human toddlers and a ballpool, this could be quite entertaining and you could sell tickets to raise some funds to help you through college... hope this helps!

[nursejudy]

the special sterile one we use on wounds certainly wriggle nursejudy