Cobboldia

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Elephant bot flies
Larvae of Cobboldia from autopsy of an Asian Elephant stomach
Larvae of Cobboldia from autopsy of an Asian Elephant stomach
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Suborder: Brachycera
Superfamily: Oestroidea
Family: Oestridae
Subfamily: Gasterophilinae
Genus: Cobboldia
Brauer, 1887
Species
  • Cobboldia chrysidiformis Rodhain & Bequaert, 1915
  • Cobboldia elephantis (Cobbold), 1882
  • Cobboldia loxodontis Brauer, 1896
  • Cobboldia roverei Gedoelst, 1915
  • Cobboldia russanovi Grunin, 1973

Cobboldia is a genus of parasitic flies in the family Oestridae. Cobboldia elephantis and Cobboldia loxodontis adults lay their eggs near the mouth or base of the tusks of Asian and African elephants, respectively. The larvae hatch and develop in the mouth cavity and later move to the stomach. On maturing they exit from the mouth and drop to the ground to pupate. A fossil species Cobboldia russanovi is known from the frozen remains of Mammoths.

The genus is named after Thomas Spencer Cobbold (1828 - 1886).

[edit] References

  • Grunin, K.Y. 1973. The first finding of the stomach bot-fly larvae of the mammoth: Cobboldia (Mamontia, subgen. n.) russanovi, sp. nov. (Diptera, Gasterophilidae). Entomol. Obozr. 52: 228-33. [English translation, 1973, Entomol. Rev. 52(1): 165-69.]
  • Pont, A. (1976) The date and author of Cobboldia elephantis (Diptera: Gasterophilidae). Zeitschrschrift fur Angewandte Zoologie 63: 23
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