From Times of Zambia...
"Not to long ago, a friend?s wife complained about what she believed were boils on her leg. I was suspicious when she explained to me the way the ?boils? were aching. I thought they were not boils but putsi flies which had pierced her skin to deposit some larvae.
My guess was right for, a few days later she squeezed out two live larvae from her ?boils? which were putsi flies.
Putsi flies are a species of flies that are overlooked by many a visitor both foreign and local, as they are not often talked about but you need to be aware of them.
Putsi flies have normal four life cycle stage like most insects egg, larvae, pupa and adult. Some have three stages egg, nymph and adult (cockroach, grasshopper and praying mantis).
Putsi flies are active during the rainy season, they favour the dampened atmosphere, laying eggs on clothes, shirts, underwear, bras, trousers, napkins, shorts and socks, table clothes and whatever is made of cloth.
The eggs have the mechanism to stay hooked or attached to the cloth when you wear something that has not been ironed. The egg will cling onto your body, hatch and the larvae will bore under your skin.
Once under your skin, it begins to eat you alive, feeding off tissue and other body nutrients that you supply it with. This is when you begin to feel like it?s a boil. When the larvae is busy devouring your flesh, there is a burning sensation you feel.
When fully fed, the larvae becomes a pupa, still buried under your skin, it will push its way out when reaching adult stage and drop to the ground, free its self from the cocoon and fly away.
At the pupa stage, if it has buried itself in the buttock, thigh or arm pit, the spot where it is will be very painful when touched. You had better get it out before it reaches that far. If you suspect you have a boil have it checked right away by medical personnel. It is most likely at this time of the year to be a putsi fly and not a boil.
So do not wear clothes that have not been ironed. The heat from the pressing iron destroys the eggs."