Overparasitized

The explanation of this was, that nature had overdone her work, the larvae had been overparasitized, that is to say, the larvae had been attacked by several flies, with the result that the amount of food contained in the body of any one larva was insufficient for the large number of grubs devouring its tissues, all thus dying from starvation before reaching maturity.

If sexuals cannot invade these marginal habitats or reversion to sex is constrained, parthenogens should be overparasitized.

Death rarely occurs, but in developing countries with undernourished and overparasitized populations, this infection can make the difference between a healthy life and chronic debilitation.