Not all superheroes wear capes—some live in rubbish bins, garbage dumps and on dead bodies. Maggots are the offspring of the blowfly, the scourge of the Aussie picnic, nuisance of summer and feared by ...

In its larval stage, Lucilia sericata looks unassuming enough. Beige and millimeters long, a bottle-fly grub may lack good looks, but it contains a sophisticated set of tools for eating dead and dying ...

Am I not pretty enough? This article is part of The Conversation’s new series introducing you to Australia’s unloved animals that need our help. Not all superheroes wear capes – some live in rubbish ...