| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the families of Diptera |
Including Gasterophilidae
Warble-flies, Bot-flies.
Life style parasitic; on mammals other than humans (sheep, deer, cattle, horses, etc.).
Adult insects. Small to large. Antennae 2–6 segmented; ‘modified’; aristate; the arista dorsal. The second antennal segment distinctly grooved above, or not grooved (Gasterophilinae). Ptilinal suture clearly defined. Ocelli present; 3. Mouthparts non-functional (atrophied). The maxillary palps 1 segmented; porrect. Thorax with the dorsal suture continuous across the middle; with well defined posterior calli. Wings with a discal cell, or without a discal cell (Gasterophilinae); with a subapical cell (when vein 4 bent), or without a sub-apical cell (Gasterophilinae); with a closed anal cell, or without a closed anal cell. The anal cell if present, short. The costa unbroken. Sub-costa apparent; reaching the costa independently of vein 1. The leading edge veins markedly stronger than the rest, or not noticeably stronger than the rest. Wings exhibiting a sharp bend in vein 4 (Hypodermatinae, Oestrinae, Cephenemyiinae), or without a sharp bend in vein 4 (Gasterophilinae). Wing vein 6 present; reaching the wing margin (Gasterophilinae), or falling short of the wing margin. Wings with a well developed lower calypter; patterned (in at least some Gasterophilinae), or unpatterned. Hind tibiae without strong bristles in the basal 4/5. Neither parasitic nor predatory (i.e., non-feeding, being without functional mouthparts).
Larvae and pupae. The larvae parasitic; endoparasitic (in mammals); acephalic. The pupae enclosed within a puparium.
Comments. Mostly large, furry or hairy, bee-like flies. Interestingly, livestock are much more noticeably alarmed by the attentions of these adults, which do not bite and are intent only on depositing eggs or larvae, than by those of the severely biting Tabanids.
Classification. Suborder Brachycera; Division Muscomorpha Schizophora Calyptratae; Superfamily Oestroidea.
British representation. 11 species in Britain. Genera 5; Cephenemyia, Gasterophilus, Hypoderma, Oestrus, Pharyngomyia.
Illustrations. • Gasterophilus, Hypoderma, and Oestrus: Walker. 3, Hypoderma bovis (male), with details of the head in front (3a) and side (3b) views, and an antenna (3c). 4, Oestrus ovis, with details of the head in front view (with palps detached, 4a), and antenna (4b). 5, Gasterophilus intestinalis, with details of the head in front view (5a), the oral aperture (5b), and an antenna (5c). From Walker (1853, Plate XIX), with approximate insect lengths added. • Pharyngomyia picta (Original generic description. Deer Bot- or Warble-fly: B. Ent. 106). • Pharyngomyia picta (detail: B. Ent. 106). • Pharyngomyia picta (dissections: B. Ent. 106). • Pharyngomyia picta (legend+text: B. Ent. 106). • Pharyngomyia picta (text, cont.: B. Ent. 106). • Gasterophilus nasalis (Healthful Bot- or Warble-fly: B. Ent. 146). • Gasterophilus nasalis: B. Ent. 146, legend+text. • Gasterophilus nasalis: B. Ent. 146, text cont.. • Gasterophilus nasalis, female (as G. salutiferus): Stephens 1846.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the families of Diptera. Version: 14th April 2022. delta-intkey.com’.
