Hippobosca longipennis | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Family: | Hippoboscidae |
Genus: | Hippobosca |
Species: | H. longipennis |
Binomial name | |
Hippobosca longipennis Fabricius, 1805 | |
Hippobosca longipennis (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), the dog fly, louse fly, or blind fly, is a blood-feeding parasite mostly infesting carnivores. [1] The species name "longipennis" means "long wings". [2] Its bites can be painful and result in skin irritation, it is an intermediate host for the canine and hyaenid filarial parasite Dipetalonema dracunculoides , "and it may also be a biological or mechanical vector for other pathogens". [1] [3]
The species feeds on a variety of animals and have been known to bite people. During its lifetime, a female lays 10 to 15 larvae on a host. It has arrived in a few countries on zoo animals that were being transported from Africa. Studies have been completed on the flies. Some specimens have been found on ancient dog corpses in Greece and Egypt.
The fly has a flat head and body, mouthparts that pierce and suck, veins are in the top half of its wings, and legs with tarsal claws. The species is related to sheep keds. [1]
Females of the species birth larvae, each one of them following the other. The larvae remains in their puparia which may allow them to survive intense changes to their environment. Between 19 days and 142 days after they leave their puparia, the adults come out in the morning to search for hosts to feed on. They feed on hosts multiple times each day, with the hosts including dogs that are fed on from their neck and their front armpit regions. After feeding off a host for a week, the flies begin to mate on the animal. The larvae develop inside the female from 3 to 8 days and then they are laid on soil, in cracks, underneath plants, or on top of debris. Soon after the cycle, the female continues to feed on the host until it starts another larval cycle. A female can live for around four to five months. During its lifetime, a female lays 10 to 15 larvae. [1]
The species typically breeds on canines, Viverridae, hyenas, and felines. There have been reports of the species being on other animals, such as an ox in East Africa, but these records are considered to be rare occurrences. They usually feed on wild carnivores, but they have sometimes been found on domestic dogs. In a 1977 study, no specimen was known to have fed on a domestic cat. [4] However, The Center for Food Security and Public Health states that they do feed on domestic cats. [1] There were rare reports of the species biting people, with reports of those bites being painless or feeling like a sting from a bee. [4] Other reports state that the bites can be painful to animals and can cause them to have irritated skin. [1] Some cheetahs were observed to not put much effort into removing the parasites from their bodies. [4]
In a 1978 study, it took an adult of the species around 8 minutes to finish a blood meal and they had to feed around every 6 hours. The flies starved the most in a moist atmosphere and the females starved less than the males. The study observed that their mating lasted for minutes. [5] In a 1992 study, the species, along with Hippobosca equina , fed off of and reproduced on guinea pigs. [6]
The species is found in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and in areas throughout the Palearctic Region south of about 45° north latitude, and "is occasionally reported from countries on the fringes of this range", including Ireland, Germany, Poland, Japan, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. [1] [3] It has been transported into North America on several occasions with zoo animals. [4] The species originally came from Africa. It entered the Americas multiple times, with the most serious incident occurring in 1970 when cheetahs were brought from East Africa to the San Diego Zoo. The flies were found on bat-eared foxes that were sent from Africa to North Carolina. Other incidents involved cheetahs in Ireland and Japan. [1] Specimens were found inside dog corpses from ancient Greece and a specimen was found on an ancient Egyptian mummified dog. [7]
Hippoboscoidea is a superfamily of the Calyptratae. The flies in this superfamily are blood-feeding obligate parasites of their hosts. Four families are often placed here:
Botflies, also known as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies, are a family of flies known as the Oestridae. Their larvae are internal parasites of mammals, some species growing in the host's flesh and others within the gut. Dermatobia hominis is the only species of botfly known to parasitize humans routinely, though other species of flies cause myiasis in humans.
Horse-flies and deer flies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect order Diptera. The adults are often large and agile in flight. Only female horseflies bite land vertebrates, including humans, to obtain blood. They prefer to fly in sunlight, avoiding dark and shady areas, and are inactive at night. They are found all over the world except for some islands and the polar regions. Both horse-flies and botflies (Oestridae) are sometimes referred to as gadflies.
The apple maggot, also known as the railroad worm, is a species of fruit fly, and a pest of several types of fruits, especially apples. This species evolved about 150 years ago through a sympatric shift from the native host hawthorn to the domesticated apple species Malus domestica in the northeastern United States. This fly is believed to have been accidentally spread to the western United States from the endemic eastern United States region through contaminated apples at multiple points throughout the 20th century. The apple maggot uses Batesian mimicry as a method of defense, with coloration resembling that of the forelegs and pedipalps of a jumping spider.
Acanthocheilonema is a genus within the family Onchocercidae which comprises mainly tropical parasitic worms. Cobbold created the genus Acanthocheilonema with only one species, Acanthocheilonema dracunculoides, which was collected from aardwolf in the region of South Africa in the nineteenth century. These parasites have a wide range of mammalian species as hosts, including members of Carnivora, Macroscelidea, Rodentia, Pholidota, Edentata, and Marsupialia. Many species among several genera of filarioids exhibit a high degree of endemicity in studies done on mammalian species in Japan. However, no concrete evidence has confirmed any endemic species in the genus Acanthocheilonema.
A black fly or blackfly is any member of the family Simuliidae of the Culicomorpha infraorder. It is related to the Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, and Thaumaleidae. Over 2,200 species of black flies have been formally named, of which 15 are extinct. They are divided into two subfamilies: Parasimuliinae contains only one genus and four species; Simuliinae contains all the rest. Over 1,800 of the species belong to the genus Simulium.
Hippoboscidae, the louse flies or keds, are obligate parasites of mammals and birds. In this family, the winged species can fly at least reasonably well, though others with vestigial or no wings are flightless and highly apomorphic. As usual in their superfamily Hippoboscoidea, most of the larval development takes place within the mother's body, and pupation occurs almost immediately.
Stomoxys calcitrans is commonly called the stable fly, barn fly, biting house fly, dog fly, or power mower fly. Unlike most members of the family Muscidae, Stomoxys calcitrans and others of its genus suck blood from mammals. Now found worldwide, the species is considered to be of Eurasian origin.
Lipoptena cervi, the deer ked or deer fly, is a species of biting fly in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. These flies are commonly encountered in temperate areas of Europe, Siberia, and northern China. They have been introduced to North America. They are parasites of elk, deer, and other deer family members, burrowing through the fur and sucking the blood of the host animals. Adults are only 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) in length and brownish in colour. Their bodies are flat and elastic, making their removal difficult. L. cervi is a poor flier and can only fly for short distances. Once the insect reaches its target, it sheds its wings and starts burrowing through the fur.
Crataerina pallida, the swift lousefly, is a species of biting fly in the family of louse flies Hippoboscidae. These flies are commonly encountered in the nests of the common swift in Europe and Asia.
Crataerina is a genus of louse flies in the family Hippoboscidae. All are parasites of birds, feeding on the blood of various species of Apodidae (swifts) and Hirundinidae. The genus is sometimes spelled Craterina.
Lipoptena mazamae, the Neotropical deer ked, is a fly from the family Hippoboscidae. They are blood-feeding parasites of the white-tailed deer - Odocoileus virginianus in the southeastern United States and Central America, the red brocket deer - Mazama americana in Mexico to northern Argentina, and also an incidental parasite of domestic cattle, Cougars - Puma concolor, and man.
Lipoptena depressa, or the Western American deer ked, is species of fly in the family Hippoboscidae. The flies are blood-feeding ectoparasites of mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus and white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus. They are found in the western United States and Canada.
Neolipoptena ferrisi, or the Pacific deer ked, is a species of fly from the family Hippoboscidae. They are blood-feeding parasites of the mule deer - Odocoileus hemionus, the white-tailed deer - Odocoileus virginianus & The Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana. They are found from British Columbia, Canada, to Baja California, Mexico.
Thelazia callipaeda is a parasitic nematode, and the most common cause of thelaziasis in humans, dogs and cats. It was first discovered in the eyes of a dog in China in 1910. By 2000, over 250 human cases had been reported in the medical literature.
Thelaziasis is the term for infestation with parasitic nematodes of the genus Thelazia. The adults of all Thelazia species discovered so far inhabit the eyes and associated tissues of various mammal and bird hosts, including humans. Thelazia nematodes are often referred to as "eyeworms".
Hippobosca equina, also known as the forest fly or New Forest fly, is a biting fly from the family Hippoboscidae. They are blood-feeding ectoparasites of primarily horses and other large mammals including cattle. It is a permanently fully winged fly, not shedding its wings on finding its host, as in some other Hippoboscidae. With its wings retained, it may thus fly away from its host to deposit its larvae. They are good fliers.
Pseudolynchia canariensis, the pigeon louse fly or pigeon fly, is a species of biting fly in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae.
Melophagus is a genus of biting flies in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. There are three known species and one subspecies. All are parasites of bovids. All are wingless.
Many species of flies of the two-winged type, Order Diptera, such as mosquitoes, horse-flies, blow-flies and warble-flies, cause direct parasitic disease to domestic animals, and transmit organisms that cause diseases. These infestations and infections cause distress to companion animals, and in livestock industry the financial costs of these diseases are high. These problems occur wherever domestic animals are reared. This article provides an overview of parasitic flies from a veterinary perspective, with emphasis on the disease-causing relationships between these flies and their host animals. The article is organized following the taxonomic hierarchy of these flies in the phylum Arthropoda, order Insecta. Families and genera of dipteran flies are emphasized rather than many individual species. Disease caused by the feeding activity of the flies is described here under parasitic disease. Disease caused by small pathogenic organisms that pass from the flies to domestic animals is described here under transmitted organisms; prominent examples are provided from the many species.