Do Maggots Come Out at Night?

Maggots can be terrifying to look at and dealing with them is not fun at all. So, let us share our knowledge about maggots with you.

Do maggots come out at night? Maggots can come out anytime, but you would suspect they only come out at night because their eggs cannot be easily seen. Flies lay their eggs and it hatches after 24 hours, so if many of them laid eggs in the morning, there’s a chance they’d show up in the next morning.

This is why some people think maggots come out at night… or they come out of nowhere.

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But the reality is that, they don’t come out at night specifically or come out of nowhere. A fly got in and laid egg somewhere in your house, probably somewhere wet or has garbage, food or animal waste.

You wouldn’t be inspecting those kinds of things… after all, they’re FILTHY! So you won’t notice the eggs without a closer look and you wouldn’t know when they came out.

Since they hatch pretty quickly and you didn’t see where they initially came from, you’d wonder how they got in or if they came in during the night.

As long as a fly lays their egg, regardless of the time, they would come out after 24 hours. They’re not exactly nocturnal beings and there is a reason why a fly laid their egg in a specific area.

Like other animals, they are driven by their natural instinct and that is to survive.

Flies and maggots wouldn’t care if there are humans around or not, after all, they don’t count us as their natural predator since all we do is try our best to ignore them and we do ignore them as long as they stay away from us.

There is a reason why maggots are seen and it’s probably they have a source of food somewhere and you can take it as a sign to clean up the area!

After all, they are notoriously known for carrying various bacteria that can be transmittable to humans and cause diseases.

Since we’re already on the topic of flies laying eggs that hatch into maggots, let’s talk about why maggots come out in your area and what you can do about it.

How to get rid of maggots when they come out

Unlike flies, maggots are easier to get rid of. Here’s a few things you can do to get rid of them when they come out – regardless if they come out at night or whatnot.

1. Spray maggot repellents
   • The most effective way to get rid of maggots including flies and the eggs in the area where they hatched is spraying an insect repellent.
     
     There are a lot of fly or maggot insecticides that can be purchased from any local store so if you see one, you should immediately buy yourself an insect repellent to get rid of them.
     
     It works quickly and all it takes is a few spray and you’re done!
     
      You just have to make sure that you will also clean the area afterwards to make sure there are no other eggs and keep your garbage bins closed so that no other flies can come back around to lay their eggs on it once again which will cause more maggots and flies.
2. Boiling water
   • According to research, maggots don’t really drown but spilling boiling water on them can hurt them. So, if you want to get rid of them immediately without having to go to the store to buy repellents, you can try to use boiling water first.
     
     Just make sure that it is really boiling so it will be effective and clean out the area afterwards as it can potentially just make the maggots hide somewhere or go deeper into the area where you can’t see it. Secure the area and make sure it is clean.
3. Sprinkling salt
   • Some people claim that sprinkling a good amount of salt on maggots worked for them.
     
     However, there are different kinds of maggots out there which means it may or may not work but it’s definitely worth the try, isn’t it? We need to get rid of those maggots! You can try to drop a few and see the reaction.
     
     If it works on one of the maggots, then you can assume that it might work for the others as well. If it’s not enough, then you can try the boiling water too. You have many options and you should use them as much as you can.
4. Raise a pet
   • Another way you can get rid of those maggots is actually raising an animal that naturally preys on insects like flies and maggots. If you are a fan of amphibian or reptile pets, it’s your time to take advantage of that. Pets like frogs, chameleons, iguanas, lizards and geckos can clear those maggots for you.
     
     Some type of birds also eats maggots and spiders on the other hand also eat and catch those kinds of insects.
     
     One more exotic option for you is the Venus flytrap plant. Although it is a plant, some people like to refer to it as a “pet”. You can feed those maggots to your Venus flytrap plant and they can also catch some of the flies hanging around so the number of eggs turning into maggots will also be lessened.
5. Use force
   • Worst comes to worst, sometimes we must just use force because we don’t really have a repellent available all of the time or have the energy to boil water and see if the salt method works.
     
     You can try to burn the maggots off or crushing them with a solid object… but we want to avoid being so violent as much as possible… so just buy yourself a repellent!

Now, let’s ask ourselves why there are maggots around you in the first place.

Why do maggots come out?

First of all, maggots come from fly eggs.

Flies look for food to lay their eggs on, preferably something that would last long enough for tons of maggots to feed on like decaying corpses or carcasses of other dead animals.

As an example, there could be food left to spoil in the trash bin and it was not properly covered. Flies would find it a perfect place to lay their eggs on and it hatches immediately after 24 hours.

Similar with flies, maggots are attracted to the same things and it’s about their needs to survive to. Food, water, warmth and a safe place for them to live. 

Maggots eat waste, overripe fruit and vegetables, meat, other leftover food, fermented substances, decaying carcasses and sometimes plants too. For extreme cases, they will consume tissues of living human beings as well when an infestation is taking place.

Similar to its parents, maggots eat literally almost anything in order to survive.

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Here are the things that maggots and flies are attracted to, the things that would cause them to come out in your area.

1. Garbage
   • Flies usually find food inside garbage bins. They consume food such as fermented fruits, spoiled meat, overripe fruits and vegetables. This is why we must keep the garbage lid closed and shut off properly in order to avoid making flies swarm over the bin.
2. Feces
   • Flies, almost all kinds of them, consume feces from nearly any kind of animal. This is also the reason why they carry so many bacteria and develop various transmittable diseases.
3. Plants
   • Certain plants such as mint, sunflowers and daises attract flies for consumption purposes. Flies may also drink from plants and lay their eggs on plants. Sometimes, they just simply land on plants to rest for a while.
4. Carcasses
   • Consuming carcasses is another way for these flies to fill their stomachs and they also lay their eggs on carcasses so that once the egg hatches, the larvae will have something to feed on the moment they are born.
5. Liquid substances
   • Spilled soda and juices from fruits can be very inviting for these flies. Not only are they able to hydrate themselves through these consumable liquids, they are also satisfied by the sweet flavor it contains.
6. Unattended food
   • It is true that they still come near unattended food but without human intervention, they can feast on the food without worry of getting caught by human traps and other animals too. They are opportunistic and therefore, they will take what they can.
7. Warm temperatures
   • Like other animals and insects, flies are also quite weak against the cold. They thrive better under warm temperatures and thus will seek places that are warm to keep their bodies functioning under normal circumstances.
     
     In the winter, they suspend the activities in their bodies in a way that allows them to survive but some of them usually lay their eggs on winter so the larvae can hatch by spring.
8. Light sources
   • Flies have a natural attraction towards light because of positive phototaxis, the locomotive movement that occurs when a living being moves closer or further away from a light source. This is because most whole organisms benefit from receiving light through photosynthesis.
9. Other flies or insects
   • The presence of your own kind is a good sign to take that you are welcome at that place. When one fly sees another or even a similar insect, it will make it seem as if they are safe around that area.
     
     Some will also intentionally seek companionship from other flies in order to breed.
10. Unkempt rooms
    • An unkempt room is more likely to have unattended food, unnoticed carcasses or feces of small animals that could have been lurking around the room unknowingly and can be a safe resting place for the flies including their eggs if they are about to lay their eggs.

Now that you know what attracts flies and maggots, it’s easier for you to prevent seeing maggots come out of nowhere! Prevention is better than cure, so start cleaning up to avoid them.

Related Questions

Are maggots attracted to light?

There is not enough research evidence to support that maggots are indeed attracted to light like their adult versions of flies, but they do react to light. Flies, the adult version of maggots, has shown attraction to light and the warmth it provides.

What is the life expectancy of a fruit fly?

Fruit flies live 40 days up to 50 days at most unlike other types of flies. Other flies generally live up to 28 to 30 days.