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On August 20, 2023, the author Jochen Zauner observed a living dice snake with a parasitic fly maggot infestation on the Soča River in Slovenia. The snake was in the process of shedding its skin and had a wound in the first third of its body infested with maggots. Due to the different developmental stages of the maggots, it was suspected that the wound had been serving as a breeding ground for the flies and a source of food for the maggots for some time. The snake otherwise appeared to be in good condition, and the author plans to observe it again in the summer of 2024 to report on its survival and the condition of the injury. [Extracted from the article]

One of the most important functional features of eyes is focusing light, as both nearsightedness and farsightedness have major functional implications. Accordingly, refractive errors are frequently assessed in vertebrates, but not in the very small invertebrate eyes. We describe a micro-ophthalmoscope that takes advantage of autofluorescent properties of invertebrate photoreceptors and test the device on the relatively well-understood eyes of jumping spiders and flies. In each case, our measurements confirmed previous findings with a greater degree of accuracy. For example, we could precisely resolve the layering of the anterior median eyes and could map out the extensive retina of the anterior lateral eyes of the spider. Measurements also confirmed that fly ommatidia are focused into infinity, but showed that their focal plane is situated slightly below the receptor surface. In contrast to other approaches, this device does not rely on reflective tapeta and allows for precise optical assessment of diverse invertebrate eyes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myiasis is the infestation of living vertebrates or humans tissues by dipterous larvae. The oral cavity is rarely affected by this infestation and the circumstances which can lead to oral myiasis include persistent mouth opening together with poor hygiene. Such infestations have been reported mainly in developing countries such as in Asia. Although rare, nosocomial myiasis must be noted carefully, especially in case of hospitalized patients. This report describes three cases of nosocomial oral myiasis in hospitalized patients in ICU (intensive care unit) in Tabriz, North West of Iran.

How do flies walk on the ceiling? Many functional solutions for adhering, gluing, and interlocking have evolved independently in different lineages of organisms. Since the diversity of such biological structures and their importance for understanding biology of particular organisms is large, there is a strong need for comparative structural and functional studies. This contribution summarises the original and literature data and proposes classification of biological attachment systems according to several principles. We show a biomimetic potential of studies on biological attachment devices for the further use in technological developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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