![]() They cause abscess-like lesions, and the larvae can be observed as it sticks its hind end out to breath while feeding (yes, they breath through their…) This fly usually only parasitizes babies with thin skin, but it can take advantage of openings made by botflies, for example. The female lays larvae on the skin of an animal, and the larvae may wander quite far before penetrating the skin. and the adult has a black abdomen with gray spots. The species Wohlfahrtia vigil is common in the northern U.S. The larvae are extremely hardy, and specimens can survive for considerable periods of time in alcohol, pure hydrochloric acid, turpentine, etc. They molt in three days, and in another 3-4 days they are ready to crawl out of the wound and pupate. The larvae burrow into tissues and grow rapidly. In the species Wohlfahrtia magnifica the female deposits larvae into sores, cuts, wounds and body openings such as nose, eyes and ears. This fly is gray with a black abdomen, or gray abdomen with black spots in longitudinal series. The genus Wohlfahrtia, commonly called the grey fleshfly, belongs to this family, and is a common parasite of mice, foxes, mink, rabbits, dogs, cats and even man. Some breed in carrion, others in excrement, others parasitize invertebrates, or breed in decaying vegetable matter. Flies in this family are medium-sized and typically found around the carcasses of dead animals. However, its presence can predispose the rabbit to bacterial infection or parasitism by another kind of fly that is more serious.Īnother family of flies that may attack rabbits is the Sarcophagidae. This fly does not usually cause much damage, because there is usually only one. ![]() The preferred location for deposition is the neck and shoulder region of the rabbit. The larvae occur singly, living in cysts under the skin, which open to the outside. The abdomen is usually shining black or blue, but may be fuzzy or reddish. ![]() It is a large fly, about 20 mm or more in length. This is the fly commonly known as the botfly, causing a condition in rabbits (and other animals) known as “warbles.” The genus is strictly North American in its’ distribution and contains a number of species that parasitize rodents and lagomorphs. One family of flies known to attack rabbits is the Cuterebridae, which includes the genus Cuterebra. What kind(s) are we dealing with in the rabbit barn? There are blood-sucking maggots, flies that lay eggs under the skin of human and animal babies, flies that attack healthy tissue, flies that are attracted to necrotic tissue and excrement. The problem was clearly a lot more complicated than I ever suspected. Each species has a different mode of attack, a different life style, and a different range of occurrence. Of these, several different families of flies (and a number of species in each) are known to attack animals. The scientific name for fly strike is myiasis, “the condition resulting from the invasion of tissues or organs of man or animals by dipterous larvae.” Diptera (the insect Order of two-winged flies) is comprised of over 120,000 species. The following is a brief synopsis of what I have gleaned from that literature and from my own experiences. Merritt kindly loaned us quite a few studies on fly strike in foxes, voles and humans. Rich Merritt) an expert on (among other things) various biting and flesh eating flies, did I get on the right trail. Not until my husband, a Professor at the University of Michigan, mentioned to me that he was having lunch with a colleague from Michigan State University (Dr. I tried looking in the rabbit literature on fly strike, but found little useful information. I learned how to treat the rabbits, but I never had a clear answer to my many questions: “Why me?” “What fly is causing this problem and how do I keep it from happening?” “Are my fly strike problems the same as friends on the West Coast are experiencing?” But since then, I have had more encounters with fly strike, and have become a reluctant expert in this area. At this point he started kicking, and maggots were flying through the air, climbing up the bathroom walls and all over the tub and sink and me. Next I dipped his hind end in bleach… the same result. What could I kill the maggots with? First I dipped him in alcohol… the maggots didn’t like it, but it didn’t kill them. His crotch area was a wiggling mass of maggots!!!!!! I screamed and raced to the bathroom with him. I had finished the top side and gently flipped him over to start work on the underside, when I gasped in horror. I was in the middle of shearing an English Angora buck. I had been raising English Angoras for six years in central Illinois, and had never encountered the problem, until I moved to southern Michigan. There is nothing so horrifying, so repugnant, so disgusting, as a breeder’s first encounter with fly strike.
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