Nebraska advertiser., 1877-08-23
Bot and Bot Flies.


The following valuable article from
Prof. e. V. Riley to the Scientific
american, We give our readers for its
thorough explanation and timely sug-
gestiOns on the subject of bot and bot
flies:
"a correspondent, engaged In the
tanning business, asks why wormsls'
get into the backs of cattle, and now
they undergo their transformations.
Almost all cloven footed animals,
and many other herbiverOus species. |
are infested with both. These are leg |
less grubs which fall into three cate
gories: l. Gastric. or those which |
are swallowed by the animal infested,
and which live in the stomach in a |
bath of chyle. 2 Cervical, or those
which crawl up the nOstriis and in
habit the frontal sinuses. 3. Cutane- |
Gus, or those which dwell In the tu-
mors just beneath the skin. They are
d. all the Larvae or early state of two
winged flies (dipterd) belonging to the
family OetTidG, characterized by haV-
q ing the mouth parts entirely obsolete. |
and popularity called gad fles or bot
flies. In the first series of which the
horse bot lgdstrophiiuS equi) is the
most familiar example. the eggs are
hatched by the female fly to the hairs
of the body. and principally on those
parts of the body within easy reach
of the animals mouth. The egg
opens with lid, and the young mag
got upon Matching clings to the tongue
ss the animal licks itself, and is thus
carried into the fore-stomach, to
which 1t holds tenaciously by series
OF splnes around the body, but princi-
pally by pair of sharp hooks at the
head. When fully grown, they leave
their post with the faeces, burrow in
the ground and undergo the final
transformation. In the second kind,
of which the sheep bot (Oestrtts OUis)
will serve as an example, the egg gen.
orally matches within the body of the
parent, and the young grub is depos-
tied alive Oh the Shiny nostrils of its
victims.
BY means of pair of long and
sharp hooks at the head, and of bands
of minute spines on the venter the
young grub works It's way into the
sinuses of the head, and when full
grown permits Itself to be sneezed
out, when Ii also burrows into the
ground and transforms. In the third
kind, the parent lays the egg on those
parts of the body which cannot well
be reached by the mouth of the ami
IN al attacked, and the young grub,
which soon matches, burrows into the
flesh and snbslsts upon the pus and
diseased matter which results from
the wound inflicted and the irritation
constantly kept up. The well-known
wormal or OK bot (hypoderua boUiS), SO
common along the backs of our cat
tie, and especially of yearllngs and
two-year-olds, and dreaded as much
by the tanner as by the animal it in
tests, is typical of this kind. Resid-
ing in fixed spot. we no longer find
in this species the strong hooks at the
head, and the spines around the body
are sparse and very minute, the parts
of the mouth are soft and fleshy.
All these bot Larvae breathe princi-
pally through two spiracles placed at
the blunt and squarely clocked end of
the body, and in the OK bot these are
very large ard completely fill up the
hole to the tumor In which the ami
NAL dwells. When ready to trans
form, it backs out of its residence,
drops, and burrows into the ground,
and these. like the other species, con-
tracts and undergoes its final change
to the fly. The eggs of this OK bot are
elliptic-ovoid, slightly compressed,
and have at the attached end five
ribbed cap or stout stalk with which
to strongly attach them to the skin of
the back.
The gastric bots are best prevented
by proper grooming of the horses to
remove the eggs or nits from the fore
legs and flanks. Horses, too, that are
properly stabbed and kept in the
shade during the hotter summer
months are less frequented by the
parent fly. Scarcely any mode of
drugging will dislodge the bots when
once they are attached to the stomach,
without injuring the parasitized ami
NAL. Cervical bots are also with diff
Guilty dislodged, except when they are
full grown and ready to naturally let
go their hold. Animals may, how
ever. be measurably protected, by en-
Rbling them to bury their noses when
the parent fly is seeking to deposit.
This they will instinotively do, If por-
tions of their pastures be turned up
and the ground kept loose. The cUta-
neous species may be removed by
pressure of the thumb and finger, or
destroyed by the application of kerc-
sene. If removed while small, the
wound In the skin heals up, and no
hole will occur in the hide.
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