1930 ] 
Bot Fly from the White-footed Mouse 
283 
A BOT FLY FROM THE WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE 
By Charles W. Johnson 
Boston Society of Natural History 
In July, 1930, Dr. Langdon Frothingham presented to 
the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History a 
bot fly — Cuter ebra {Bogeria) fontinella Clark, obtained 
from a White-footed Mouse ( Peromyscus leucopus nove- 
boracensis Fischer). The following note was furnished by 
Dr. Frothingham : “The larva of the bot fly, which formed 
a large swelling on the thigh of the mouse, left its host 
August 26, 1929, was placed in a small jar of damp 
earth, and almost immediately buried itself in the earth. 
It was left in my closed summer cottage at Pocasset over 
the winter. The earth was dampened twice in the fall, 
September and October, and again in June and July. The 
fly emerged on July 15, 1930.” 
The fly is 15 mm. in length and represents the smallest 
of our species of Cuterebra. It agrees in every respect with 
C. fontinella Clark as defined by E. E. Austin, 1 but not 
with Bogeria fontinella Clark as described by Townsend. 2 
The standing of Bogeria even as a subgenus is question- 
able. The chief character, “arista bare,” used by Austin 
having proved to be erroneous, Townsend took up a second 
character, “antennal pit,” used by Austin to separate 
Bogeria from Rogenhofera. This character when confined 
to Cuterebra has evidently no generic value. 
This is the first record to my knowledge of this bot fly 
having been actually obtained from the White-footed 
Mouse, although the larvse of Cuterebra have been found 
in this Mouse at Sandwich, Mass., by Willard Reed; at 
Wareham, Mass., by Outram Bangs ; and at Bedford, Mass., 
1 Annals and magazine of Nat. History, ser. 6, vol. 15, 1895. 
2 Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus, vol. 5, p. 27, 1919. 
