i8o INSECTS 



the stomach to the intestine. A bad infestation is a 

 serious matter and may easily become fatal. 



On well-cared-for horses bots are not often trouble- 

 some. The eggs are readily seen and as they cannot 

 be hatched for several days after being deposited, 

 they may be easily removed when the animal is groomed. 

 They are firmly enough attached, however, not to 

 be easily removable by the horse, and the embryo 

 develops within ten days after they are laid. If at any 

 time after that the egg is licked, the cap covering the 

 top opens and the larva slips out of the shell on to the 

 tongue, moving actively at once toward the gullet. 

 A thorough brushing and washing once every week 

 will therefore be sufficient to keep a horse free, even 

 when exposed to the attacks of the flies. 



It is curious to note how all animals subject to bots 

 appear to dread the adult flies. They cannot possibly 

 know the relationship between the flies and the bots, 

 and it is probably the apparent intention to attack 

 that arouses the fear that undoubtedly exists. 



Horned cattle are subject to the attacks of bots 

 that form swellings or "warbles" under the skin, 

 usually on each side of the backbone; and these insects 

 affect not only the general health of the animal, but 

 very materially reduce the value of its hide. In fact 

 the impairment of value so caused has been reckoned 

 at many millions annually while the impairment in 

 value of dairy products, due to the poor condition of 

 suffering cows, can hardly be estimated. 



The life cycle of this species is also interesting and, 

 in a way, decidedly more complicated than that of any 

 of the species previously referred to. The adult is not 

 so unlike that of the horse bot ; a little more compactly 

 built, with a shorter abdomen and a somewhat banded 

 appearance in black and whitish. Like its ally it lays 



