352 



fNSECTS INFESTING DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



the animal is Ijcncfitcd by the presence of the hot. Conse- 

 quently, I can only advise consulting a veterinary surgeon. 



CHAPTER rcXi.VI. 



The Ox Bot-fly. 



( (K-'^frtis /njci'.s. — I)e Gecr.) 



Order, Diftera; Family, CKstkid.*:. 



[Living in tumors on cattle ; a "whitish footless maggot.] 



Fig. 'M')'). — Larva, or maggot of Ox Bot-tly — color, white. 



Fig. 364. — Ox Bot-fly, enlarged — colors, black, yellow and 



white. 



Fig. 363. Fig. 364. 



The parent fly deposits her eggs upon the backs of the cattle, 

 or, according to some authors, she first punctures the skin, 

 and then deposits therein a single egg; the first hypothesis is 

 the more reasonable one, and we may suppose, with very good 

 reason, that the grul), or maggot (Fig. 868), as soon as 

 hatched, burrows through the skin and takes up its a])ode just 

 beneath it. where its presence results in the formation of a 

 tumor, in wliicli the -maggot lives. After attaining its full size 

 it deserts its former abiding jilace and falls to the ground, 

 which it enters and soon contracts to a dark-l)rown })upa, 

 from which the perfect fly issues in the course of a few weeks. 



