68 



horses stand in the pasture, nose and tail together for mutual protection, will understand 

 the cruelty of "clipping" and " docking." 



The Sheep-tick (Melophagus ovinus). 



The Sheep-tick is closely related to H. equina. Though it is ranked with the 

 Diptera or Tv)o-winged Flies, the Sheep-tick has no wings. Unlike other Diptera, 

 moreover, its abdomen has no segments — it is a membraneous sack. The insect is in 

 many respects a very remarkable one. It produces an offspring almost as large as itself, 

 and that not in the egg, but in the pupa. This pupa is soft and white at first, but its 

 'case soon turns brown and hardens. At the front of the pupa is a notch marking the 

 lid. This lid in due time opens to let the perfect insect escape. 



Thorough washing, close shearing, and the application of a decoction of tobacco, are 

 the approved measures against this intruder. 



The JBot Flies (Oestrice). 



The Bot-fly of the Horse (Gastrophilus equi). 

 The Bot-fly of the Ox (Hypoderma bovis). 

 The Bot-fly of the Sheep {Oestrus ovis). 



Who does not know the Bot-fly of the horse \ Who has not admired the persever- 

 ance with which the creature accompanies the horse for miles, hovering around its chest 

 and fore-legs, and the skill with which it darts in at a favourable moment, protrudes its 

 ovipositor and glues an e^>g to a hair of the animal I 



The eggs deposited by the bot-fly are ready to hatch in four or five days. The horse 

 licks itself, and its wet tongue comes in contact with the eggs. They burst, and the 

 active maggots adhere to the tongue, and are afterwards taken with the saliva into the 

 stomach of the animal. Here they fasten themselves by means of the hooks with which 

 their heads are furnished. They are nourished by the juices of the stomach. When full 

 grown they are voided and drop to the ground, in which they bury themselves. They 

 then pass into the pupal state, and in about six or seven weeks the new bot-flies appear. 



To prevent mischief from G. equi, let the horse wear a net ; groom the animal 

 thoroughly, and make frequent use of the sponge and hot water. Pratt gives the following 



Remedy for Bots. 



"Take oil of turpentine 8 oz. ; alcohol, 1 quart. Mix and bottle for use. Dose, 

 4 to 5 oz. in the horse's feed, once a day for eight days, will effectually remove every 

 vestige of bots." — The Horse's Friend, page 296. 



The Ox Bot-fly bores a hole, with her horny and augur-like ovipositor, through the 

 skin of the I ack of the ox, and drops an egg therein. The process takes but a few 

 moments, but the ox does not like it. The hole thus made enlarges as the maggot grows, 

 allowing the air to reach the respiratory organs of the parasite. A tumor forms, and 

 from this the creature is at length ejected, to pass the after stages of its existence as in 

 the case of G. equi. Young and healthy animals are selected by //. bovis as hosts for its 

 youn». The perfect insect is black and hairy, and has yellow, white and orange mark- 

 in^. It appears towards the end of summer. 



The Sheep Bot-fly deposits its young (for it is ovo-viviparous) in the nostrils of the 

 sheen. The maggots crawl into the head, and feed on the mucus produced in the 

 maxillary and frontal sinuses. When they are full grown, the sheep blows them from 

 the nose, and they fall to the earth, there to pass into the pupa condition. The fly is of 

 a dirty ash colour, with a brownish thorax. Its hairy abdomen is mottled with yellow 

 and white. 



Pine tar rubbed on the noses of the sheep is a preventive to the operations of the 

 insect. 



