The Society for the study of flies (Diptera)

stuart · 2009-03-12 11:02:30

The study group covers the family Oestridae of which there are probably only 9 extant species in Britain, and possibly even fewer in Ireland. The initial aim of the study group is to collate current and historic distributional data.

Oestridae larvae are internal parasites of various animals; most species being host-specific and unable to complete their life-cycle in the wrong type of animal. Some species affect domesticated livestock, and have suffered catastrophic declines or extinction due to improved animal husbandry, i.e. the widespread use of various drugs and poisons. The two Hypoderma species causing warbles in cattle were eradicated from Britain during the 1970s and 1980s; likewise, Gasterophilius must have suffered catastrophic declines in recent decades due to the 'worming' of horses. Infestation by the Sheep Nostril Fly, Oestrus ovis, is harder to diagnose and treat; nevertheless, it is probably uncommon in modern Britain and Ireland. The remaining resident British and Irish Oestridae are less at risk of national extinction as their hosts are Red Deer, Roe Deer and Reindeer.

Organiser: Andrew Grayson

DonCotton · 2011-07-21 03:00:13

Stuart, I collected a bot fly on 30 August 2010 in County Sligo, Ireland which I tentatively identified as Gasterophilus intestinalis using Colyer & Hammond. I have no key works to the family. Anything observed in Ireland is a worthwhile record as so little recording is done here. If you are interested I could arrange to photograph the specimen in order to get an accurate identification.

Dark Horse · 2011-07-25 21:16:45

Hello Don, By all means do provide a photograph, and I'll give you an identification. Have you got any further details such as grid refernce, site/area name, etc. Best wishes, Andrew Grayson

tonydavis · 2014-09-04 00:20:21

I netted one of two bot flies that were trying to land on a pony in the New Forest. It looks superficially like pictures of Gasterophilus intestinalis on the internet (although the wing cloud is somewhat darker). Are there any keys to this family? Is it safe to record the species on the basis of internet pictures or are there similar species? Many thanks for any info.

falky · 2017-11-28 01:59:56

Just putting together a Flickr feature on bot, warble and nostril flies (Oestridae). Does anybody have any photos of living flies, larvae or wounds I could host (with full credits)? Here is the unfinished feature: https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@ … 15181216/. Cheers, Steven

Rainieria · 2017-11-28 11:41:37

I have some Steve. Andrew Grayson collected some on a Dipterists Forum field trip a few years back and we managed a few shots.
A group of us are working on the Recording Scheme pages of the proposed new DF website at the moment. Steve Crellin and I will be working together to figure out how to put together the pages for our respective schemes and we thought that once we'd made progress a good candidate for us helping out another scheme to put theirs together would be Andrew's Oestridae. The example of the kind of thing that we hope BRC can develop for us is Stuart's Scathophagidae pages (example http://scathophagidae.myspecies.info/sc … ra-albipes).
Your Flickr feature is clearly something that would be useful to have incorporated somehow.

The Society for the study of flies (Diptera)

#1 2009-03-12 11:02:30

Oestridae Study Group

#2 2011-07-21 03:00:13

Re: Oestridae Study Group

#3 2011-07-25 21:16:45

Re: Oestridae Study Group

#4 2014-09-04 00:20:21

Re: Oestridae Study Group

#5 2017-11-28 01:59:56

Re: Oestridae Study Group

#6 2017-11-28 11:41:37

Re: Oestridae Study Group

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