THE FLIES THAT CAUSE MYIASIS IX MAX 69 



MICROCALLIPHORA VARIPES (Macquart) 



The Small Green Blowfly 



Synonym. — Chrysomyia rati pen ( Macquart) . 



Geographical Distribution. — Australian Region: South Australia, Queens- 

 land, New South Wales. Fiji. Tonga. 



Biology and Pathogenesis. — This species is a scavenger, feeding in 

 carcasses and supposedly predaceous on other dipterous larvae which 

 it may encounter. It is a secondary sheep maggot of little importance 

 in Australia, and is probably not involved in human myiasis. 



CHRYSOMYA MARGIN ALIS (Wiedemann) 



Recognition Characters. — Adult : This is a bluish-green to purple species 

 with whitish pollen on the thorax and the tip of the abdomen ; the head, including 

 the antennae and palpi, is orange, and the wing is blackish at the base and along 

 the anterior margin. Length, about 12 mm. Larva : The mature larva is about 

 12-14 mm. in length, white and soft, with hardly discernible minute spines encir- 

 cling the segments: it broadens gradually from the head end. being about 3 mm. 

 wide near the end of the body. The anterior spiracle ends in about 12 processes ; 

 the peritreme of the posterior spiracles is very thin. 



Geographical Distribution. — Palaearctic Region : Cape Verde Islands, Egypt, 

 Syria. Arabia. Oriental Region: Baluchistan, India. Ethiopian Region: Sene- 

 gal, Sierra Leone, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Eritrea, Aden Protectorate, Ethiopia, 

 Italian Somaliland, Socotra, Belgian Congo, Angola, Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika, 

 Zanzibar, Mozambique, Xorthern Rhodesia, South-West Africa, Transvaal, Xatal, 

 Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar. 



Biology and Pathogenesis. — This is a common species in Africa. 

 The adnlts rarely enter houses but are common in butcher shops, 

 where they are attracted by the meat. In the wet season they swarm 

 on cow dung and feces, and persistently feed on liquids exuding from 

 septic sores and screwworm-infested wounds on cattle. 



The larvae breed usually in the carcasses of dead cattle. Eggs are 

 laid in batches of 200 to 300. and several females may oviposit together 

 to form masses. The eggs hatch in 24 hours ; the larvae then bore into 

 the decomposing flesh, reducing it to a liquid mass. Development is 

 rapid, the larvae maturing in 3 to 4 days after hatching. Pupation 

 takes place in the soil, about half an inch below the surface. 



Though primarily scavengers, the larvae may attack living tissue. 

 Sick animals near death are sometimes chosen by the female for 

 oviposition. In some parts of Africa this blowfly occasionally infests 

 human sores with its larvae. 



Literature. — Cuthbertson (SI) gives an account of the life history 

 and biology of this fly. 



CHRYSOMYA ALBICEPS (Weidemann) 



The Banded Blowfly 



Recognition Characters. — Tins species is very close to C. rufifacies, the adults 

 differing chiefly in the absence of the stigmatic bristle and in the structure of the 

 male genitalia. 



Geographical Distribution. — Palaearctic Region: Portugal. Spain, Balearic 

 Islands, France, Italy. Corsica. Sardinia. Sicily. Yugoslavia. Bulgaria, Greece, 

 Crete. European Russia (Crimea, Caucasus, and Transcaucasus), Canary 

 Islands. Morocco. Algeria, Tunisia, Libia, Egypt, Turkey. Dodecanese. Syria, 

 Palestine, Arabia, Iraq. Iran. Afghanistan, China. Oriental Region: India. 

 Ethiopian Region: Sierra Leone, French Equatorial Africa. Anglo Egyptian 



