A  Contribution  to  the  knowledge  of  Brazilian 
Oestridae 
by 
DR.  ADOLPHO  L.UTZ 
(With  Plates  27-29). 
The  family  Oestridae  is  formed  by  seve¬ 
ral  genera  of  which  the  old  genus  Oestrus  L. 
forms  the  center.  Modern  authors  prefer  the 
name  Oestrinae,  so  as  to  indicate  that  these 
parasitical  flies  are  merely  a  subfamily  of 
the  Musàdae.  I  agree  with  them,  but  do 
not  go  so  far  as  to  place  them  in  other  sub¬ 
families,  to  which  they  may  have  certain  af¬ 
finities. 
The  parasitism  of  the  larva  of  most  ge¬ 
nera  and  species  may  be  considered  as  their 
most  important  general  character;  but  they 
have  other  points  in  common  and  differ  from 
other,  non  parasitical,  flies  by  other  features. 
Were  it  not  so,  we  should  have  to  in¬ 
clude  Mydaea  pici  in  the  Oestrinae,  a  thing 
which  nobody  has  thought  of,  as  yet. 
The  Oestrinae  may  be  subdivided  in 
tribes,  instead  of  subfamilies.  One  of  these 
(the  former  Cuterebrinae),  is  composed  of 
the  genera  peculiar  to  America,  which  are 
characterised  by  cutaneous  parasitism  and 
also  by  their  large  size  (wanting  only  in  the 
rather  aberrant  genus  Dermatobia). 
A  detailed  and  well  illustrated  monograph 
of  the  Oestrinae,  by  BRAUER,  was  pu¬ 
blished  In  1863.  A  more  recent  and  com¬ 
plete,  though  much  shorter  one  by  ARM1- 
N1US  BAU  appeared  in  WYTSMAN’s  Ge¬ 
nera  insectorum.  So  we  are  not  absolutely 
dependent  on  the  original  papers  which  are 
much  scattered  and  of  difficult  access,  though 
they  ought  to  be  consulted  whenever  possible. 
There  are  a  few  recent  ones  by  AUSTEN, 
BRAUER  and  BERG. 
To  give  a  short  account  of  our  present 
knowledge,  we  may  state  that  the  Oestridae 
are  oviparous  or  larviparous  Muscidae, 
which  (as  far  as  we  know)  always  pass  their 
larval  stage  in  mammals,  and  live  either  in  the 
skin,  the  stomach,  or  the  nasal  cavities.  They 
reach  them  either  directly  or  by  more  or  less 
complicated  migrations.  The  pupae  are  not 
formed  in  the  body  of  the  host,  but  outside. 
Generally,  the  imago  does  not  feed  but  only 
lives  for  the  propagation  of  the  species.  Its 
body  is  large,  its  head  big  and  partly  tume¬ 
fied  ;  the  eyes  of  both  sexes  are  small  and 
set  upell  apart.  Ocelli  are  always  present. 
The  antennae  occupy  a  rather  deep 
groove.  The  palpi  are  rarely  developed,  they 
are  mostly  atrophied  or  altogether  missing. 
