Blood, ink, and flies: A case report on the house fly (Musca domestica) feeding on active tattooing wounds.
- 1Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Ohlebergsweg 12, Giessen, 35392, Germany. [email protected].
- 2Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Ohlebergsweg 12, Giessen, 35392, Germany.
Abstract
Cases of adventitious feeding on humans by non-hematophagous insects hold significant medical relevance, yet their occurrence during active body art procedures remains undocumented. This case report describes a persistent instance of opportunistic exsudatophagy by the house fly, Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758 (Diptera: Muscidae), during a tattooing session on a healthy 32-year-old male client in Germany. Over a four-hour timeframe, four adult house flies entered the ground-floor studio through doors and windows opened for summer cross-ventilation. The insects exhibited highly persistent landing and feeding attempts directly on the freshly wounded tissue of the right lower leg, actively drinking a matrix of blood, plasma, and tattoo ink. Attraction intensified significantly once large-scale shading expanded the exuding epidermal surface area. Effective mechanical repulsion was heavily restricted by the client's enforced immobility required to ensure precise tattoo application. Following a routine aftercare protocol, the lesion healed completely without secondary bacterial infection. This report highlights a neglected hygienic hazard where the saprophagous and coprophilic ecology of synanthropic filth flies poses a mechanical vector risk for dermal pathogen inoculation, emphasizing the necessity of simple vector control strategies in tattooing facilities.
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BibTeX
@article{kluber2026blood,
title = {{Blood, ink, and flies: A case report on the house fly (Musca domestica) feeding on active tattooing wounds.}},
author = {Patrick Klüber and Niklas Hetz},
journal = {Parasitology research},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/s00436-026-08792-1},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907585},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Blood, ink, and flies: A case report on the house fly (Musca domestica) feeding on active tattooing wounds.
AU - Patrick Klüber
AU - Niklas Hetz
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Parasitology research
DO - 10.1007/s00436-026-08792-1
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907585
AB - Cases of adventitious feeding on humans by non-hematophagous insects hold significant medical relevance, yet their occurrence during active body art procedures remains undocumented. This case report describes a persistent instance of opportunistic exsudatophagy by the house fly, Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758 (Diptera: Muscidae), during a tattooing session on a healthy 32-year-old male client in Germany. Over a four-hour timeframe, four adult house flies entered the ground-floor studio through doors and windows opened for summer cross-ventilation. The insects exhibited highly persistent landing and feeding attempts directly on the freshly wounded tissue of the right lower leg, actively drinking a matrix of blood, plasma, and tattoo ink. Attraction intensified significantly once large-scale shading expanded the exuding epidermal surface area. Effective mechanical repulsion was heavily restricted by the client's enforced immobility required to ensure precise tattoo application. Following a routine aftercare protocol, the lesion healed completely without secondary bacterial infection. This report highlights a neglected hygienic hazard where the saprophagous and coprophilic ecology of synanthropic filth flies poses a mechanical vector risk for dermal pathogen inoculation, emphasizing the necessity of simple vector control strategies in tattooing facilities.
SN - 0932-0113
SN - 1432-1955
ER -