PARASITISM 



805 



mals. One of the common and curious species is the skin botfly, Derina- 

 tobia hominis (Fig. 39.7). The maggots burrow into the skin and feed 

 on dissolved flesh and blood. In Central and South America it may 

 be so abundant that the hides of cows are riddled. The flies burrow in 

 man as easily as in other mammals. When the maggots are mature they 

 drop to the ground and pupate. The female fly lays her eggs not on 

 the mammalian host but on the lower side of a bloodsucking arthro- 



Adalt female. 



Man6e mite burrowing in skin 



Figure 39.6. The mange mite. Sarcoptes scabiei. These pass their entire Hfe 

 cycle on the host. Eggs laic! in the bnrrows hatch into young mites that begin burrows 

 of their own. Note the suckers on the anterior legs. (After Craig and Faust.) 



Fioure 39 7 The skin botfly, Dermatobia hominis. The adult {A) lays its eggs on 

 bloodsucking arthropods (B). When this carrier feeds ^'^ J^^^^ ^^^ J^J.'^^J"^ 

 burrow into the skin (C). After feeding and growing beneath the skur the full-grown 

 larva (£>) drops to the ground, pupates, and emerges later as an adult. 



