It's everyone for themselves on Hoxxes, and life is cheap. Whatever foul mind dreamt up these things is truly deranged, though. These invasive larvae will burrow into practically anything biological given half a chance, and will multiply aggressively once they do find a nice nest. Take out the carriers and larvae themselves with extreme prejudice. The stories we've heard from our predecessors on Hoxxes are not for children.
— Miner's Manual Description
Carnivorous Larva, also known as Parasites, are hostile creatures found during missions in any region with the Parasites Warning. They appear to burst out when killing medium or larger enemies and flail around, gnashing at the dwarves.
Radius: 1 m Maximum Damage Radius: 0.5 m Minimum Area Damage: 25 %
Tips
Due to the Larva's low HP and tendency to spawn in groups, weapons with a large AoE radius are very effective at taking down multiple Larvae without wasting ammo. If you don't have a weapon with an AoE effect, using your Pickaxe's power attack will be an effective way of eradicating them. Standard Pickaxe attacks have a very small AoE, so it is also capable of killing multiple Larvae in one hit.
The HP of the Larva is not linked with its host, meaning overpenetration will not kill the Larvae along with the host. Larvae typically spawn with a second delay after the host has been killed, making it advisable to briefly hold fire after killing the host and waiting for the Larvae to spawn to avoid wasting ammo.