Gasterophilinae

Larvae of horse bot fly Gasterophilus intestinalis in the stomach of a horse, from here.

Belongs within: Oestridae.

The Gasterophilinae include the stomach bot flies, with larvae that are parasitic on the mouth, tongue and stomach lining of large mammals. Eggs are laid on the host's hair and enter the host when it licks itself. Long-term effects on the host are usually slight except in cases of severe infestation. Species of the genus Gasterophilus are parasites on Equidae. Platycobboldia loxodontis and Rodhainomyia roverei infest elephants whereas Gyrostigma species attack rhinoceroses (Askew 1971).

Characters (from Colless & McAlpine 1991, as Gasterophilidae): Proboscis vestigial, subcranial cavity much reduced. R₁ without setulae; M₁₊₂ almost straight, ending in wing margin; lower calypter vestigial. Prosternum not prominent.

Gasterophilinae
    |--Platycobboldia Townsend 1934 A71, F92
    |    `--P. loxodontis A71
    |--Rodhainomyia Bequart 1920 A71, F92
    |    `--R. roverei A71
    |--Gyrostigma Brauer 1884 A71, F92
    |    |--G. conjugens A71
    |    |--G. pavesii A71
    |    `--G. sumatrensis A71
    `--Gasterophilus Leach 1817 F92
         |--G. intestinalis (De Geer 1776) P10, F92 (see below for synonymy)
         |--G. haemorrhoidalis (Linnaeus 1758) F92
         |--G. inermis (Brauer 1858) [=Gastrus inermis] F92
         |--G. nasalis (Linnaeus 1758) [=Oestrus nasalis; incl. O. veterinus Clark 1797] F92
         |--G. nigricornis (Löw 1863) [=Gastrus nigricornis] F92
         |--G. pecorum (Fabricius 1794) [=Oestrus pecorum] F92
         `--G. ternicinctus P10

Gasterophilus intestinalis (De Geer 1776) P10, F92 [=Oestrus intestinalis F92; incl. O. equi Clark 1797 F92, *Gasterophilus equi F92]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.

[F92] Fan Z. 1992. Key to the Common Flies of China 2^nd ed. Science Press: Beijing.

[P10] Pape, T. 2010. Oestridae (bot flies). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 2 pp. 1305–1311. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

Last updated: 19 January 2021.