248 MAJOR W. S. PATTON. 



CohhoUia elephantis. Steel.— The larvae of this species are parasitic in the stomach 

 of the Indian elephant. I have been told by those who have to do with the elephants 

 kept by the Government of Madras, in various parts of South India, that this bot- 

 fly is a serious pest. There seems little doubt that when the larvae are in large 

 numbers in the stomachs of the elephants, especially the young animals, they suffer 

 in health, often being on the sick hst with digestive troubles, and are unable to 

 work ; and in bad infestations the young animals may even die. Mr. Chari, 

 Veterinary Inspector, Mount Stuart, sent me a large number of third stage larvae 

 of C. elephmiHs that were collected from the stomach of a calf elephant, which was 

 so full of larvae that there was hardly any room for a pin to pass into it. The eggs 

 are laid at the root of the tusk or trunk, and the larvae only hatch out when the 

 eggs are moistened. I had a large number of these eggs collected about a month 

 after they were laid, and as soon as they were placed in some water the young larvae 

 immediately burst open the eggs and emerged ; they are very active and can crawl 

 considerable distances. 



The African elephant is parasitised by the larvae of three species of Cobboldia. 

 The larvae of Cobboldia loxodontis, Brauer, have been recorded from Uganda, the 

 Belgian Congo, and the Ivory Coast, but its distribution is probably much wider ; 

 those of C. chrysidiformis, Rodh. & Beq., have so far only been found in the stomachs 

 of elephants from the Belgian Congo ; while those of C. parumspinosa. Ged., have 

 been recorded only from the basin of the Zambesi. 



4. Subfamily Hypodermatinae. 



This subfamily contains all those Oestridae whose larvae cause cutaneous 

 myiasis in ruminants, chiefly cattle and antelopes. The following are the more 

 important species : — 



Hypoderma bovis, De Geer.— The larvae cause the well known warbles, which 

 are common in the hides of cattle in Europe and North America. Captain Cross, 

 C.V.D., has sent me what appear to be the larvae of this species from the skins of 

 goats in the Punjab, a very large percentage of the animals being infested. 



Hypoderma lincata, de Villers.— The larvae are also parasitic in the hides of 

 cattle in Europe and North America, but are not so common as those of H. bovis. 

 It is only recently that the method of infestation has been worked out in the case 

 of Hypoderma bovis by Carpenter in Ireland, Glaser in Germany, and Hadwen in 

 Canada. The females of these two species lay their eggs on the hairs of the legs 

 of cattle, and the larvae on hatching out penetrate the skin adjacent to the hair, 

 and then slowly migrate upwards until they reach the submucous coat of the 

 oesophagus, resting there for some time in the second larval stage. Later they 

 pass along the muscles of the back and eventually reach the back and sides of the 

 animal, where they make a small opening in the skin. When mature they leave the 

 skin and pupate in the ground. 



Hypoderma diana, Brauer, and H. actaeon, Brauer. — The larvae of these two 

 species are parasitic in the skins of the red deer in Germany and Britain. 



Hypoderma silenus, Brauer, is parasitic in its larval stage in the skin of the ass 

 in Egypt : Hypoderma desertornm, Brauer, is also found in Egypt, but its host is 

 not known. Hypoderma gazellae, Ged., is parasitic in its larval stage in the skin 

 of Grant's gazelle in East Africa. Hypoderma corinnae, Crivelli, in the skin of 

 the Dorcas gazelle, Gazella dorcas. 



Oedemageita. — This genus, which contains only one species, differs from 

 Hypoderma in having small oval labella, which are absent in Hypoderma. Oede- 

 magena tarandi, L., is parasitic in the hides of reindeer in Lapland and Norway. 



