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cheese skipper

Piophila casei

Classification

Class
Insecta
Order
Diptera

The cheese fly, cheese skipper, or ham skipper (Piophila casei) is a species of fly from the family Piophilidae whose larvae are known to infest cured meats, smoked or salted fish, cheeses and carrion. On the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, the larvae are intentionally introduced into pecorino sardo cheese to produce the characteristic casu martzu. If consumed by humans, the larvae have a chance to survive in the intestine, causing enteric pseudomyiasis, though no such cases have been linked to casu martzu dishes.

Distribution

(c) Andrew Meeds, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Andrew Meeds · CC-BY
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Countries in the Picchu catalog
Netherlands · 3