Pupipara

• The feet are provided with strong claws, by means of which the parasite clings to the hairs or feathers of its host
• Pupipara

  The females give birth to larvae which are ready to pupate
• Hippoboscidae

  Horse louse flies, obligate parasites of mammals and birds
• Hippoboscidae

  • Morphologically adapted for an ectoparasitic existence among the hairs or feathers of their hosts
  • Parts of the exoskeleton have become modified, mainly by fusion and reduction or atrophy, in response to permanent ectoparasitism
• Hippoboscids

  • Dorsoventrally compressed or flattened with the depressed head, thorax, and abdomen giving these insects their louselike appearance
  • Abdomen is large, soft and leathery and usually lacks distinct segmentation
  • Head is small and tightly compressed to the thorax
  • Legs are strong with large claws
  • There are winged and wingless species

  
• Sometimes the wingless flies have piercing mouthparts
• The antennae are embedded in pits in the sides of the head
• Hippobosca


  • The wings remain well developed and functional throughout life
• Lipoptena


  • Have wings when they emerge from the pupal case, but the wings break off near the base once the fly has alighted on a host
• Lipoptena may attack horses and other domestic animals in addition to deer, and their attacks are particularly obnoxious to horse
• Stenepteryx hirundinis have wings and attack swallows

  
• Hippobosca equina


  The horse louse fly (cosmopolitan), common parasite of horses and cattle
• Hippobosca


  • About 1cm long to the tip of the abdomen and have a reddish-brown color with pale yellow spots
• Hippobosca life cycle

  1. Female fly deposits one larva at a time in sheltered spots where there is dry soil or humus

  2. Larvae pupate almost immediately and gradually turn from yellow to black

  3. Larva is subglobular in shape, measures 5 by 4 mm and possesses a dark spot at the posterior pole

  4. Length of the pupal period is greatly influenced by the temperature

  5. Flies are most frequent in the summer and attack more particularly in sunny weather

  6. Tend to feed mainly on cattle and horses and are not inclined to travel more than few meters, although they are strong flyers

  
• Hippoboscids are like tsetses, they retain their larvae in their abdomens until they are ready to pupate, nourishing them during development with uterine gland secretions
• Melophagus ovinus


  The sheep ked or Sheep tick, found most part of the world
• Melophagus ovinus

  • Wingless, hairy, leathery insects, 4-6mm long
  • Head is short, broad and not freely movable
  • Thorax is brown and the broad abdomen grayish-brown
  • Legs are strong and armed with stout claws

  
• Melophagus ovinus life cycle and habits

  1. Keds are permanent ectoparasites, entire life spent on the host

  2. Female attaches its larva to the wool of the sheep by means of a sticky substance

  3. Larval development requires about a week and the extruded larva pupates within a few hours

  4. Pupal stage lasts 19-23 days in summer to 36 days in the winter, or longer if the sheep are exposed to very cold temperature

  5. Pupal cases remain glued to the wool of the host sheep throughout the metamorphosis of the adult fly, which emerges in 3-6 weeks, depending on the ambient temperature

  6. Female ked lives 4-5 months on a sheep

  7. Copulation occurs 3-4 days after the emergence of the adult and each gestation lasts about 10-12 days

  8. A female may produce 10-15 larvae

  9. They usually spread from sheep to sheep by contact and are most numerous in the autumn and winter
• Pathogenesis of Melophagus ovinus

  • Parasites in the wool of the sheep and suck blood
  • Heavy infestations can reduce the condition of the host considerably and even cause anemia
  • They produce intense irritation, causing the sheep to bite, rub and scratch itself, thus damaging the wool
  • The feces of the keds produce stains in the wool which do not wash out readily
  • The ked transmits the nonpathogenic Trypanosoma melophagium to sheep
• If all keds are removed, the trypanosomes rapidly disappear from the sheep's blood, so the ked and not the sheep represents the true reservoir of infection
• Poorly fed animals that are not protected against cold weather are most liable to suffer from keds
• Control of Melophagus ovinus

  1. The ked population is markedly reduced by shearing

  2. The insects are very susceptible to organophosphate insecticides
• Pseudolynchia canariensis

  • A dark fly, 6mm long, which resembles the sheep ked, but has a pair of transparent, tapering wings with the venation reduced and concentrated along the anterior border
  • Parasite is widely distributed in warm countries and lives on domestic pigeons and a few wild birds
• Pseudolynchia canariensis life cycle and habits

  1. Flies move through the feathers, sucking blood causing painful wounds, especially on young nestling pigeons 2-3 weeks old, when the feathers begin to grow and afford protection

  2. Female produces 4-5 young during her entire life of 43 days or so

  3. Copulation takes place on the host and the larvae are laid in dark crevices of the pigeon-house in dry dust, in the nests or occasionally on the host, after which they roll off to pupate in cracks and crevices

  4. Pupal stage lasts 23-31 days in warm weather

  5. Parasite transmits Haemoproteus columbae, a blood protozoan of pigeons

  
• Lipoptena


  Both sexes have wings but cast them when they find the host
• Lipotena cervi


  • Common parasite of various deer, and the wild boar in Europe
  • Has been reported to cause skin lesions in man (porters of carcasses of game animals)
  • The fly is leathery, brownish in color and the head sunken into the thorax
  • The life cycle is similar to H. equina
• Calliphoridae (Blowflies)


  • Flies often have shiny, metallic coloration so that they are often called as greenbottles or bluebottles
  • They are medium to large in size with bristles on both sides of their thorax and abdomen tip

  
• Blowflies

  The name arose because when their larvae (maggots) infest meat they render it "flyblown" making it unfit to eat. The use of "blow" in this context comes from the Old English term blawan and probably refers to the production of gas from bloated carrion containing maggots
• Calliphoridae


  • This family includes a large number of species whose larvae are saprophagous, flesh feeders or parasites of other arthropods
  • Adult Blowfly feeds on nectar, honey dew and other sweet liquid, or liquid products of organic decomposition
• Blowfly larvae

  • Usually live in carrion or dung, which help for decomposition. Some species are parasitic on earthworms or land snails. Some live in termites or ants nest
  • Most Blowfly adults are active during day time
• Calliphorinae


  The blowflies and are often metallic blue or green in color
• Sarcophaginae


  The flesh flies which have gray longitudinal stripped thorax with check-board marked abdomen
• Calliphorids


  Adult calliphorids (Gr. Kallos – beauty, plus phoros – bearing) are usually intermediate in size between Musca and Sarcophaga and display brilliant metallic blue, green, copper, or black hues
• Bluebottle and greenbottle flies


  Common names referring to the coloration of these flies, which are also called "blow flies"
• Blow flies


  They "blow", i.e., deposit, their eggs or larvae in meat
• Calliphorids


  • Most are scavengers or facultative parasites, but a few (e.g Cochliomyia hominivorax, the american screw-worm) are obligate parasites
• What Calliphorids are attracted to

  • Suppurating wounds
  • Skin soiled with urine
  • Vomitus, or feces
  • Bacterial decomposition products that tend to accumulate in the fleece of a wet sheep
• Once established in exudate or necrotic tissue, some kinds of these facultative parasites may later invade living tissue, whereas others do not
• The "surgical maggots, of Phaenica sericata and Phormia regina are still occasionally used in the treatment of osteomyelitis and other refractory suppurative lesions to clear away necrotic debris and promote healing
• Ideally, the surgical maggots do not invade healthy tissue but strains vary and some of them do not know where to stop