Gasterophilus

Taxobox
name = "Gasterophilus"


image_caption = "G. intestinalis"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
subphylum = Hexapoda
classis = Insecta
subclassis = Pterygota
infraclassis = Neoptera
superordo = Endopterygota|
ordo = Diptera
subordo = Brachycera
infraordo = Muscomorpha
zoosectio = Schizophora
zoosubsectio = Calyptratae
superfamilia = Oestroidea
familia = Oestridae
subfamilia = Gasterophilinae
genus = "Gasterophilus"
genus_authority = Leach, 1817
synonyms = "Gastrus" Meigen, 1824
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = *"G. haemorrhoidalis" (Linnaeus 1758)
*"G. inermis" (Brauer, 1858)
*"G. intestinalis" (De Geer, 1776)
*"G. nasalis" (Linnaeus 1758)
*"G. nigricornis" (Loew, 1863)
*"G. pecorum" (Fabricius, 1794)

Gasterophilus is a genus of parasitic flies in the family Oestridae which includes the horse bot flies. They lay eggs in the fall on the face and around the lips and noses of horses, caribou, donkeys, and similar animals, usually equines. When the eggs hatch, the larvae typically proceed to either the nasal passages or the stomach of the host animal. Those larvae which grow in the stomach are passed in the feces of the host, and they burrow into the soil to pupate. Those that grow in the nasal passages may drop out of the nose to pupate in the ground. [Meyer, H.J., R. Dean Christie, Dean K. McBride. Insect Pests of Horses. NDSU Extension bulletin 55. [http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/horse/eb55.pdf] ] There are exceptional cases of human babies infected by these flies. [Royce, L. A., Rossignol, P. A., M. L. Kubitz, AND F. Randell Burton 1999. RECOVERY OF A SECOND INSTAR GASTEROPHILUS LARVA IN A HUMAN INFANT:A CASE REPORT. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 60(3), 1999, pp. 403–404 [http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/60/3/403.pdf] ]

External links

* [http://www.icb.usp.br/~marcelcp/Gasterophilus.htm University of Sao Paolo page]

References

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