Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-08-17
Bots in Horses.


As :he bot-fy is now in its glory, and
deposits its eggs by the hundred, brief
description Of the Irregularities of those
when anect the horse will be in season.
boz Dothies. or gadfiies. constitute a
:rlDe OF dlpterous insects, well known to
'arlners Tor the annoyance which several
81 thelr species give to sheep, cattle, and
norses. The perfect insects are short
hVed, and not often seen; and the
iarve spend most of their existence
under the skin, within the stomach, or
otherwise In the interior of Illuminating
animals. Yet the whole tribe, in all
Inc Stages of existence, is remarkable
for extraordinary habits, nice mechanical
adjustments, and general character of
wondrous instinct and beautiful organi-
Lation.
Inc great spotted horse-bot, Gastero-
phl!us equi, is one of the largest, and
by far the most common, not only of
the genus, but of the tribe. Its length
Is about seven lines; its general color is
clear yellowish-brown; its head is broad
and obtuse; its thorax has somewhat
graylsh color; its abdomen is rusty
brown, with tinge. of yellow, and
series of dorsal spots: and its wings are
whltlsh, with a black undulated trans
verse fascia behind the middle. The
female. in series of sudden descents
or dartings, deposits her eggs upon the
hair OF some part of the horse, within
reach of his mouths. making them in
stant!y adhere by means of glutinous
secretion which she gives out along
with them, and sometimes depositing
upon a single. horse as many as four or
five hundred eggs Each egg is some
what conical in shape, the attached
end forming the apex; and when
seen through nagnifying-g glass is sha-
greened on the surface with transverse
and longitudinal strie. The horse, in
licking himself, takes up a considera-
BILE proportion of the eggs with his
tongue, the eggs disclose their Animal
ed contents either while on the tongue,
or very speedily after passing into the
stomach; and the larve immediately
attach themselves to the Stomach's in
ner tissue, and there remain in security,
from the end of summer or beginning
of autumn till late III spring, enjoying
a temperature of alb put one hundred
and two degrees of Fahrenheit, suffering
no in ury from the action of the gastric
juices, feeding upon the mucus or the
cbyme. and gradually, though slowly,
growing TO maturity of size. Each
larva i shaped somewhat like flask
or elongated bagS~it has a pale, yellow
ish coicr; it possesses at the sides of it
mouth two hooks, with which it an
ch0rs itself to the stomacb's mem.
brane: and it is engirdled with several
belts or rings of Spinelets and project,
ing points, by means of which it regains
its POSITION VIXEN, at any time. it acct
dentallv loses its hold. When it attains
maturity, it disengagcs itself from its
anchorage, is carried with the horse $
food into the villous portion of the
stomach, passes out with the came, and
is evacuated with the dung. The eject
ell ma9got seeks a place of shelter,
buries itself in the ground. and changes
into chrysaIis; the insect, in this lat
ter form resembles the larya in shape,
but is more rigid, and has reddish
brown color. After lying for few
weeks inactive, it escapes by the narrow
end of the pupa-case, and assumes It's
final form of an image, or fly.
Many stern opinions have been enter
tanned as to excessive injuries done &c
the horse by the above described great
common bot. and as to the desirablenesS
of using strong medicinal means for de-
stroying the insect; but all such Opin-
ions are very nearly without foundation.
1t is fortunate for the horse, or rather
most beautifully ordained, that their
numbers are much reduced, and kept
within due limits, by the hazards they
are exposed TO in the singular round OF
their propagation. Some of the eggs,
in the very act of their deposition, are
shaken off by the movements of the
horse; some, though firmly deposited
are not taken up by the horse, or are
externally Matched from the action oil
rain or other moisture, and in conse.
queuce perish; many are destroyed dur
ing the horses process of maSticat; on
many fail TO make Judgment in stom-
ach, but pass on to the intestines; and
not few of the matured larva re
| dropped in such situations as TO be
crushed by the horses foot, picked W
by the birds, or unable to find suitable
retreat for their transmutation into
chrysalides. Altogether may calcll-
late that one hundred or upwards per-
iSh in the state of either EGG or larva,
for every individual which attains TIE
perfect condition of the fly.-RrairtC