Flies Flashcards
What order are flies?
Diptera
What are the two main suborders of flies? What families do they contain?
Nematocera: Stimulidae (black flies) Culicidae (mosquitos) Ceratopogonidae (midges) Psychodidae (sand flies)
Bradycera: Muscidae (House/stable/horn flies) Tabanidae (horse and deer flies) Hippoboscidae (keds), Glossinidae (Tsetse flies) Oestridae (bot flies and warble flies) Sarcophagidae (flesh flies) Caliphoridae (Blow flies
What do Simulidae flies look like?
Black flies are 1-5mm and have a humped buffalo back
What do Simulidae flies transmit?
Onchocera spp which are roundworms of horses
Protozoa of birds
Are midges and mozzies strong fliers?
No and neither are sand flies
What do mosquitos transmit?
Plasmodium, dirofillara and many viruses eg. west nile virus
Where do black flies (simuliidae) eggs and larvae live?
Eggs and larvae in oxygenated, fast-flowing water
What do black flies (simuliidae) eat?
Adult males eat nectar, adult females eat blood from wide range of vertebrates.
What do black flies (simuliidae) cause in horses?
Sweet itch
Where do sand flies (Psychodidae) live?
Sandy habitats
Eggs laid on ground and larvae (multiple stages) live in humid soil, leaf litter etc.
What do female sand flies (Psychodidae) eat?
Blood
What do sand flies (Psychodidae) transmit?
Transmit a range of pathogens in various species, but most important is the protozoan Leishmania, infecting humans and dogs and transmitted mainly by Phlebotomus spp in Europe
What is the most abundant species of biting midges (Ceratopogonidae)?
Culicoides spp.
Adults tiny and larvae/pupae are microscopic.
Where do biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) live and lay their eggs?
Live in aquatic/semi-aquatic areas. Eggs laid on water or moist ground and larvae (multiple stages, and can be maggot or caterpillar-like) live in ponds, streams or damp puddles, tree boles etc
What do biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) eat?
Adults drink nectar, but female adults drink blood before laying eggs.
What can biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) cause in horses?
Sweet itch
What can biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) transmit?
Transmit a range of pathogens in various species – eg bluetongue, African horse sickness and Schmallenberg viruses and various trypanosomes and filaroid nematodes
Where do mosquitos live?
Breed in aquatic areas. Eggs laid on water or moist ground and larvae (multiple stages) live in still ponds, water butts etc. Culicine larvae hang down, and anopheline lay parallel with surface of water.
What do adult mosquitos eat?
Adults drink nectar, but female adults drink blood before laying eggs.
What can mosquitos transmit?
Protozoa such as Plasmodium (malaria)
Nematodes such as Dirofilaria immitis (dog heart worm)
Viruses such as dengue, myxomatosis, avian poxviruses and equine encephalitis viruses, equine infectious anaemia virus and West Nile virus (arbovirus)
Where do horseflies (Tabanidae) live?
Eggs laid on stems of plants and larvae live in wet mud or may be completely aquatic
How long is the horseflies (Tabanidae) lifecycle?
Several months
What do horseflies (Tabanidae) eat?
Adults feed on nectar, but females bite and drink blood. Large saw-like mouthparts so very painful.
What is the most common species of horsefly (Tabanidae)?
Haematopota pluvalis is most common in UK.
What do louse flies/keds (Hippoboscidae) feed on?
Louse flies and keds which are obligate ectoparasites, with both males and females feeding on blood.
What are the most common spp of louse flies/keds (Hippoboscidae) in the UK?
Melophagus ovis AKA sheep ked Permanent ectoparasite, no wings, 5-8mm Single egg hatches inside female, goes through three stages, and then emerges in time to stick to hair and pupate. Transmission through direct contact Causes irritation, rubbing, wool-loss.
Hippoboscis equina
AKA new Forest fly, ~10mm, has wings and can fly short distances
Female produces larvae that pupate on the ground
Nuisance – found on horses and possibly cattle
How do tsetse flies (Glossinidae) reproduce?
Reproduce via ked-like viviparity and larvae are not deposited by the female until they are ready to pupate.
What do tsetse flies (Glossinidae) transmit?
These flies act as vectors of the parasitic protozoa that cause trypanosomiasis, including sleeping sickness (Trypanosoma brucei) in humans and nagana (T. congolense,T. vivaxandT. brucei) in livestock.
Name some obligate myiasis flies
Oestridae (bot flies) and Sarcophagidae (flesh flies)
Name some facultative myiasis flies
Calliphoridae (blow/bottle flies) and Muscidae (house flies)
What are the three main species of gasterophillus bot fly?
Gasterophilus intestinalis - females lays eggs around the knees.
Gasterophilus nasalis - females lay eggs under the jaw.
Gasterophilus haemorrhoidalis - female lays eggs around the lips.
What is the life cycle of gasterophillus?
Flies lay eggs on horses legs which are ingested while grooming. Larvae migrate through various parts of mouth, to pharynx, then swallowed. Bind to glandular-non-glandular border of stomach. Mild infestations usually go un-noticed. The entire life cycle takes one year.
What is the most important bot fly in sheep?
Oestrus ovis
Larviparous – so females lay larvae rather than eggs
Larvae cause a profuse discharge and thickening of the nasal mucosa that impairs respiration. Larvae present in the sinuses are sometimes unable to escape; they die and lead to septic sinusitis or sometimes enter brain.
What are the most important species of warble fly?
Hypoderma bovis and Hypoderma lineatum
What is the life cycle of a warble fly?
Adults fly in spring and early summer, and lay eggs on skin, the eggs hatch and larvae migrate and moult through body (between muscles to oesophagus or up nerves to vertebrae) and then on to skin where moult again and cut breathing holes in hide. Final stage grub drops to ground and pupates. Whole cycle takes about a year. Causes damage to the hide.
What is the danger with warble flies?
Noise made by female frightens cattle causing gadding – loss of production and injuries
What are the most important species of blow and bottle fly?
Lucilia sericata (common green bottle) and Phormia regina (black blow fly) and Calliphora spp (blue bottle fly).
What do blow and bottle flies (Calliphoridae) cause?
Within the UK blow/bottle flies are the primary agents of flystrike in sheep.
Lucilia spp are facultative parasites what does this mean?
They eat eating necrotic tissue as well as causing strike, and (unlike screwworm) they mainly eat lymph and necrotic tissue, only eating healthy tissue when overcrowded.
Where do bottle and blow flies lay eggs?
Eggs are laid in moist areas – eg in faecal/urine soiled areas, or where infection is already underway (eg deep in fleece in infected wounds). Female adults require protein feed before lay eggs – eg from wound secretions.
What is the most important species of the Sarcophagidae family?
Wohlfahrtia sp. Also known as flesh flies.
An obligate larval parasite of warm blooded vertebrates in the Mediterranean eastern and central Europe and causes rapid myiasis.
What are the most important species in the muscidae family?
Housefly (Musca domestica, M. autumnalis) Head flies (Hydrotaea irritans) Stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans) Horn flies (Haematobia irritans).
Where do muscidae flies live and what do they transmit?
Non-adult stages live in detritus and manure whereas adult stages are the mechanical transmitters of infections such as pink eye in cattle, summer mastitis (head fly), salmonella and campylobacter
What do horn flies (Haematobia irritans) eat?
Takes blood meal (most often from cattle), causes painful bites
What do head flies (Hydrotaea irritans) eat?
Feed on secretions from the eyes, nose and debris at horn base.
Feeding causes irritation and scratching resulting in wounds
What are common maggots involved in myiasis?
The screwworm (Cochliomya hominivorax- new world screwworm and Chrysomya bezziana- old world screwworm).
What can increase the chance of flystrike?
Fecal staining surrounding the perineum; Virulent foot rot lesions Dermatophilosis lesions on the skin, Urine scalding around the prepuce Leaving shot pests (eg rabbits)
What is the farmer required to do by law to prevent myiasis
It is legal requirement to inspect all low ground and upland sheep daily so death of a sheep due to blowfly strike could lead to prosecution under animal welfare legislation
