It's the perfect fodder for David Sedaris, story-teller extraordinaire, known exaggerator. David Sedaris even has a bit where he tells the story of his boyfriend Hugh, who grew up in the Congo, and the worm that came out of his skin.
If you look real close, you can see the black mouth or eye or something. Here's a better explanation (if you care for more detail) including the fact that their scientific name derives from "human eater." Then they hatch out of your skin and go on their merry way. The larvae crawl around until they come in contact with flesh where they can bury themselves and grow into a more proper worm-like thing, or maggot if you will. So yeah, pulling a worm out of your skin is amateur hour. When he got home and I saw his ghost-white face, I knew. So when one landed with a thud on the concrete behind him, and then proceeded to rear-up and fight off a flock of birds that instantly dive-bombed the poor thing, Adam reached for his smelling salts. While I am afraid of real things like rebel groups and ninja terrorists, Adam is afraid of seeing a slithering reptile. For example, yesterday Adam was 3 inches away from a snake falling from a tree and landing on his shoulders. In terms of dramatic wildlife experiences, it ranks pretty low. I neglected this parasite for good reason.
Here's the short version: they hatch out of your skin. Any proper orientation to living in Congo contains the lesson, Mango Worms 101. We at Mama Congo would be failing you if we didn't have a post on this infamous creature. I realize I was remiss not to mention the mango worm. A while back I talked a bit about the issue of bugs in Congo.
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