Opening the trash can to find maggots is an unpleasant but common household problem. The cause is biological and straightforward: flies lay eggs on decaying food, and in the right conditions those eggs hatch in less than a day. Understanding the cycle is the first step to breaking it.
In brief
- —Fly eggs hatch into maggots in as little as 8 to 24 hours
- —One female fly can lay hundreds of eggs at a time
- —Removing food, moisture and access breaks the cycle
Fly larvae, not a hygiene failure: the biology behind the problem
Maggots are not a sign of a dirty home. They are simply the larval stage of the common housefly or fruit fly, two species that are ubiquitous in domestic environments.
