What the sources say
Human BotflyDermatobia hominis
Every figure, record and mechanism on the Human Botfly profile was written from a source, and this is the working table behind it: 58 claims checked word for word against these sources. The left column is what the page says. The right column is the source's own words, copied, not paraphrased; a ... marks a cut and[brackets] an insertion. Open any source and check it yourself.
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Source
01
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Dermatobia hominis. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
- The page saysMoist, hilly forest and farmland from Mexico to northeast Argentina
- The source says
prefer hilly, moist, and cool secondary-forests
Note: stats.habitat; range quote follows - The page saysfarmland
- The source says
Other Habitat Features agricultural
Note: stats.habitat; ADW lists agricultural as a habitat feature - The page sayslarvae feed on fluids from the tissue of warm-blooded hosts
- The source says
feed and grow on host tissue exudates
Note: stats.diet; 'tissue exudates' = fluids from tissue - The page saysNot Evaluated
- The source says
IUCN Red List No special status
Note: stats.conservationStatus. ADW's 'No special status' anchors only that no Red List category applies. The prefetch found no Red List assessment for Dermatobia hominis (GBIF has no category, no Crossref assessment DOI), so no IUCN reference is cited. - The page saysOther botflies lay their eggs on a host or in its surroundings.
- The source says
Unique from other bot-fly species, which lay their eggs directly on the host or in the host's environment
Note: 'surroundings' for 'environment' - The page saysglues her eggs to its abdomen
- The source says
a female captures a porter and glues her eggs onto one side of its abdomen using a water-insoluble glue
- The page saysthe glue does not dissolve in water and that the carrier is released unharmed
- The source says
using a water-insoluble glue, after which the porter is released without being harmed
- The page saysWhen the carrier lands on a warm-blooded animal, usually to feed, the temperature jump makes them hatch.
- The source says
Being sensitive to a sudden rise in temperature, the eggs instantly hatch upon contact with the warm-blooded body of a definitive host as the porter lands onto it, usually to feed on blood.
- The page saysthe larvae bore in within 5 to 10 minutes, often through the carrier's bite wound
- The source says
Within 5-10 minutes, the larvae bore their way into the definitive host's body, often via the wounds inflicted by the porter's feeding
- The page saysForty-eight species of flies, about half of them mosquitoes, and one tick had been reported as egg carriers for this one fly by 2003.
- The source says
Forty-eight species of flies--of which about half are mosquitoes--and a tick are reported to be involved in this paratenic relationship with female D. hominis.
Note: 2003 = ADW 'Last updated: 2003-01-20' - The page saysIt is 12 to 18 mm long, with a bluish body, and the female is the larger sex.
- The source says
Adult D. hominis are 12-18 mm in length, are bluish in color, and resemble bumble-bees.
Note: female larger: next claim - The page saysthe female is the larger sex
- The source says
females are normally larger in size than males
- The page saysAdults have lost their mouthparts and do not feed.
- The source says
the ancestral mouthparts have been lost in adult D. hominis, as well as in other cuterebrines
Note: do not feed: 'adult D. hominis are non-feeding' - The page saysthat stage is given over to reproduction
- The source says
Being non-feeding and having a short adult life span (3-4 days in the laboratory), this stage in the life-cycle of D. hominis is allocated primarily towards reproductive efforts.
- The page saysa female lays 800 to 1,000 eggs
- The source says
Females lay 800 to 1,000 eggs.
- The page saysA larva that hatches on a host digs into the skin and settles in the layer just beneath it.
- The source says
They bore into the skin of their hosts, either through pre-existing lesions in the skin or through active piercing, and become established in the subcutaneous layer.
- The page saysuses backward-pointing spines to stay put
- The source says
employing body spines as anchors
Note: EDIS: 'backward projecting spines' - The page saysA full-grown larva can reach 25 mm long and 7 mm across.
- The source says
They may reach 25 mm in length and 7 mm in diameter.
- The page saysIt then drops to the ground, buries itself in soil and pupates
- The source says
the third larval instar exits the definitive host's body and drops onto the soil, after which it burrows deeply into the soil or other available debris and pupates
- The page saysit prefers hilly, moist, cool secondary forest, often in coffee-growing highlands
- The source says
These places are typically coffee-growing highlands, as D. hominis prefer hilly, moist, and cool secondary-forests.
- The page saysThe adult fly is 12 to 18 mm long. Its larva can reach 25 mm in length and 7 mm across.
- The source says
Adult D. hominis are 12-18 mm in length ... They may reach 25 mm in length and 7 mm in diameter.
Note: faq 2 - The page saysAnimal Diversity Web gives 800 to 1,000 eggs for a female.
- The source says
Females lay 800 to 1,000 eggs.
Note: faq 4 - The page saysIn the laboratory an adult lives 3 to 4 days
- The source says
having a short adult life span (3-4 days in the laboratory)
Note: lifespan; laboratory scope kept - The page sayshatch when the carrier lands on a warm-blooded animal
- The source says
Being sensitive to a sudden rise in temperature, the eggs instantly hatch upon contact with the warm-blooded body of a definitive host as the porter lands onto it, usually to feed on blood.
Note: vibe.reason; same quote as the body sentence "When the carrier lands on a warm-blooded animal, usually to feed, the temperatur" - The page saystags: rainforest
- The source says
Terrestrial Biomes rainforest
Note: tags, task #1254
Source
02
Larrick & Rutledge-Connelly 2008
Larrick & Rutledge-Connelly (2008). Human Bot Fly, torsalo (Central America), moyocuil (Mexico), berne (Brasil), mucha (Colombia, mirunta (Peru), and ura (Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay), Dermatobia hominis (Linnaeus, Jr.) (Insecta: Diptera: Oestridae): EENY 440/IN775, 9/2008. EDIS.
- The page saysA bumblebee lookalike that glues its eggs to a blood-feeding carrier, usually a mosquito or a tick, which delivers them when it feeds.
- The source says
deposit their mature eggs on a blood-feeding arthropod, usually a mosquito or a tick, that is captured by the bot fly in flight ... As the vector takes a blood meal, the bot fly eggs react to the change in temperature and hatch.
Note: tagline; 'looks like a bumblebee' and the eggs-glued quote are separate claims - The page saysGlues its eggs to a blood-feeding carrier, usually a mosquito or a tick, which carries them to a warm-blooded host
- The source says
deposit their mature eggs on a blood-feeding arthropod, usually a mosquito or a tick, that is captured by the bot fly in flight
Note: stats.superpower - The page saysfrom Mexico to northeast Argentina
- The source says
Dermatobia hominis is indigenous from Mexico in the north to Paraguay and northeast Argentina in the south.
Note: stats.habitat; the 2008 UF sheet over ADW's 2003 'southern Mexico to northern Argentina' - The page saysAdults do not feed
- The source says
During the adult stage, D. hominis does not feed.
Note: stats.diet - The page saysA female catches a blood-feeding carrier in flight, usually a mosquito or a tick, and glues her eggs to its abdomen.
- The source says
deposit their mature eggs on a blood-feeding arthropod, usually a mosquito or a tick, that is captured by the bot fly in flight
Note: glue and abdomen: next claim - The page saysThis behavior is known as phoresy.
- The source says
This behavior is known as phoresy
- The page saysthey can also enter through hair follicles
- The source says
The larvae enter the skin through the bite wound or hair follicles
- The page saysa large, densely haired fly that looks like a bumblebee
- The source says
is a large, densely haired fly that looks like a bumblebee
- The page saysAny infestation of the body by fly larvae is called myiasis
- The source says
The infestation of any fly larvae inside the body is known as myiasis.
- The page saysThe larva breathes through two openings at its rear end that sit flush with the skin
- The source says
The larvae breathe through two posterior spiracles which lie flush with the skin of the host.
- The page saysfeeds on fluid from the surrounding tissue
- The source says
The larva feed on tissue exudates
- The page saysIt passes through three growth stages, called instars.
- The source says
The larva, or white maggot, goes through three instars once in the mammalian host.
- The page saysthe larvae molt to the second stage after seven days of infestation and to the third after eighteen, and leave the host after about thirty days
- The source says
After the seventh day of infestation, the larvae molt to the second instars, and then to third instar after eighteen days. After approximately thirty days, the third instar larvae, which can grow to be relatively large (Fig. 7), crawl out of the host to pupate in the soil.
Note: the sheet does not tie this timeline to the Pereira rat study, so the page no longer does - The page saysThe University of Florida sheet gives a timeline
- The source says
After the seventh day of infestation, the larvae molt to the second instars
- The page saysIn general, a larva spends five to 12 weeks inside its host.
- The source says
In general, the life of the larvae inside the host is five to 12 weeks
- The page saysan adult emerges two to three weeks later
- The source says
Adults will emerge after two to three weeks.
- The page saysCattle and dogs are its usual hosts, though it turns up in many other warm-blooded animals, from cats, pigs and sheep to rabbits, monkeys and people.
- The source says
The most common hosts for the human bot fly are cattle and dogs. However, they are found in many warm-blooded animals including buffalo, cattle, cats, dogs, humans, monkeys, pigs, rabbits, and sheep.
- The page saysIt is native to Central and South America.
- The source says
The human bot fly is native to Central and South America.
- The page saysThe University of Florida says it runs from Mexico down to Paraguay and northeast Argentina.
- The source says
Dermatobia hominis is indigenous from Mexico in the north to Paraguay and northeast Argentina in the south.
- The page saysThe University of Florida's 2008 fact sheet counted seven reported cases in the United States since 1999, and every confirmed patient had recently been to Central or South America.
- The source says
Six different studies have documented seven reported cases of D. hominis myiasis in the United States since 1999 ... All the patients with confirmed D. hominis myiasis had recently been to Central or South America.
- The page saysThe female catches a blood-feeding carrier in flight, usually a mosquito or a tick, and attaches her eggs to it. When that carrier lands to feed, the warmth of the host's body makes the eggs hatch.
- The source says
deposit their mature eggs on a blood-feeding arthropod, usually a mosquito or a tick, that is captured by the bot fly in flight ... As the vector takes a blood meal, the bot fly eggs react to the change in temperature and hatch.
Note: faq 1 - The page saysthe fly is not known to transmit disease-causing pathogens
- The source says
The fly is not known to transmit disease-causing pathogens
Note: faq 3 - The page saysThe adult does not feed.
- The source says
During the adult stage, D. hominis does not feed.
Note: faq 3; ref is edis-in775, which says nothing of mouthparts, so that half was cut - The page saysThe University of Florida's 2008 fact sheet
- The source says
Published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, September 2008.
Note: date of the sheet (Crossref abstract) - The page saysThe University of Florida's 2008 fact sheet counted
- The source says
Published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, September 2008.
- The page saysThe eggs react to a change in temperature.
- The source says
the bot fly eggs react to the change in temperature and hatch
- The page saysOutside that range, cases turn up in travelers.
- The source says
Cases of human D. hominis myiasis reported from non-indigenous people are diagnosed when travelers bring the parasite back with them from Central and South America.
- The page saysuses backward-pointing spines
- The source says
Each instar possesses backward projecting spines that encircle the thorax.
- The page sayseggs travel glued to a mosquito or a tick
- The source says
deposit their mature eggs on a blood-feeding arthropod, usually a mosquito or a tick, that is captured by the bot fly in flight
Note: vibe.reason; same quote as the body sentence "A female catches a blood-feeding carrier in flight, usually a mosquito or a tick" - The page saysdangerLevel: Medium
- The source says
infests the skin of mammals causing painful pustules, a condition known as myiasis
Note: stats.dangerLevel, task #1254: the larva injures; the adult does not feed and no pathogen is known
Source
03
Marinho et al. 2003
Marinho et al. (2003). Hemilucilia segmentaria (Fabricius, 1805) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) as new biological vector of eggs of Dermatobia hominis (Linnaeus Jr., 1781) (Diptera: Oestridae) in Reserva Biológica do Tinguá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
- The page saysIt was carrying 20 eggs on its left side.
- The source says
a female was captured in May 2001, carrying a mass of 20 eggs on the left side of its abdomen
Note: 'Glued' is not in the abstract: it says 'carrying a mass of 20 eggs on the left side' - The page saysIn Brazil's Tinguá reserve, researchers trapped one such carrier
- The source says
during a study of the diversity of Calliphoridae at Reserva Biol gica do Tinguá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The insects were captured using traps baited with chicken vicera
Note: abstract text drops the accented o - The page saysIn Brazil's Tinguá reserve, researchers trapped one such carrier, a Hemilucilia segmentaria fly, in 2001.
- The source says
a female was captured in May 2001, carrying a mass of 20 eggs on the left side of its abdomen
How the table was made: a writer drafted the profile from these sources and logged each claim with its quote, a reviewer with nothing but this table checked every sentence said no more than its quote, and a script confirmed each quote appears word for word in the source. The method is in the site'sAbout page.