---
title: "What the sources say about the Human Botfly | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "58 claims from the Human Botfly profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/human-botfly/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Human Botfly (*Dermatobia hominis*)

> 58 claims from the Human Botfly profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Human Botfly](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/human-botfly/)

## Dermatobia hominis. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dermatobia_hominis/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Moist, hilly forest and farmland from Mexico to northeast Argentina | prefer hilly, moist, and cool secondary-forests (note: stats.habitat; range quote follows) |
| farmland | Other Habitat Features agricultural (note: stats.habitat; ADW lists agricultural as a habitat feature) |
| larvae feed on fluids from the tissue of warm-blooded hosts | feed and grow on host tissue exudates (note: stats.diet; 'tissue exudates' = fluids from tissue) |
| Not Evaluated | 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.) |
| Other botflies lay their eggs on a host or in its surroundings. | Unique from other bot-fly species, which lay their eggs directly on the host or in the host's environment (note: 'surroundings' for 'environment') |
| glues her eggs to its abdomen | a female captures a porter and glues her eggs onto one side of its abdomen using a water-insoluble glue |
| the glue does not dissolve in water and that the carrier is released unharmed | using a water-insoluble glue, after which the porter is released without being harmed |
| When the carrier lands on a warm-blooded animal, usually to feed, the temperature jump makes them hatch. | 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 larvae bore in within 5 to 10 minutes, often through the carrier's bite wound | 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 |
| Forty-eight species of flies, about half of them mosquitoes, and one tick had been reported as egg carriers for this one fly by 2003. | 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') |
| It is 12 to 18 mm long, with a bluish body, and the female is the larger sex. | Adult D. hominis are 12-18 mm in length, are bluish in color, and resemble bumble-bees. (note: female larger: next claim) |
| the female is the larger sex | females are normally larger in size than males |
| Adults have lost their mouthparts and do not feed. | 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') |
| that stage is given over to reproduction | 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. |
| a female lays 800 to 1,000 eggs | Females lay 800 to 1,000 eggs. |
| A larva that hatches on a host digs into the skin and settles in the layer just beneath it. | 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. |
| uses backward-pointing spines to stay put | employing body spines as anchors (note: EDIS: 'backward projecting spines') |
| A full-grown larva can reach 25 mm long and 7 mm across. | They may reach 25 mm in length and 7 mm in diameter. |
| It then drops to the ground, buries itself in soil and pupates | 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 |
| it prefers hilly, moist, cool secondary forest, often in coffee-growing highlands | These places are typically coffee-growing highlands, as D. hominis prefer hilly, moist, and cool secondary-forests. |
| The adult fly is 12 to 18 mm long. Its larva can reach 25 mm in length and 7 mm across. | Adult D. hominis are 12-18 mm in length ... They may reach 25 mm in length and 7 mm in diameter. (note: faq 2) |
| Animal Diversity Web gives 800 to 1,000 eggs for a female. | Females lay 800 to 1,000 eggs. (note: faq 4) |
| In the laboratory an adult lives 3 to 4 days | having a short adult life span (3-4 days in the laboratory) (note: lifespan; laboratory scope kept) |
| hatch when the carrier lands on a warm-blooded animal | 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") |
| tags: rainforest | Terrestrial Biomes rainforest (note: tags, task #1254) |

## 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.

https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in775-2008

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A bumblebee lookalike that glues its eggs to a blood-feeding carrier, usually a mosquito or a tick, which delivers them when it feeds. | 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) |
| Glues its eggs to a blood-feeding carrier, usually a mosquito or a tick, which carries them to a warm-blooded host | 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) |
| from Mexico to northeast Argentina | 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') |
| Adults do not feed | During the adult stage, D. hominis does not feed. (note: stats.diet) |
| A female catches a blood-feeding carrier in flight, usually a mosquito or a tick, and glues her eggs to its abdomen. | 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) |
| This behavior is known as phoresy. | This behavior is known as phoresy |
| they can also enter through hair follicles | The larvae enter the skin through the bite wound or hair follicles |
| a large, densely haired fly that looks like a bumblebee | is a large, densely haired fly that looks like a bumblebee |
| Any infestation of the body by fly larvae is called myiasis | The infestation of any fly larvae inside the body is known as myiasis. |
| The larva breathes through two openings at its rear end that sit flush with the skin | The larvae breathe through two posterior spiracles which lie flush with the skin of the host. |
| feeds on fluid from the surrounding tissue | The larva feed on tissue exudates |
| It passes through three growth stages, called instars. | The larva, or white maggot, goes through three instars once in the mammalian host. |
| the 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 | 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 University of Florida sheet gives a timeline | After the seventh day of infestation, the larvae molt to the second instars |
| In general, a larva spends five to 12 weeks inside its host. | In general, the life of the larvae inside the host is five to 12 weeks |
| an adult emerges two to three weeks later | Adults will emerge after two to three weeks. |
| Cattle 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 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. |
| It is native to Central and South America. | The human bot fly is native to Central and South America. |
| The University of Florida says it runs from Mexico down to Paraguay and northeast Argentina. | Dermatobia hominis is indigenous from Mexico in the north to Paraguay and northeast Argentina in the south. |
| The 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. | 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 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. | 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 fly is not known to transmit disease-causing pathogens | The fly is not known to transmit disease-causing pathogens (note: faq 3) |
| The adult does not feed. | 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 University of Florida's 2008 fact sheet | Published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, September 2008. (note: date of the sheet (Crossref abstract)) |
| The University of Florida's 2008 fact sheet counted | Published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, September 2008. |
| The eggs react to a change in temperature. | the bot fly eggs react to the change in temperature and hatch |
| Outside that range, cases turn up in travelers. | 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. |
| uses backward-pointing spines | Each instar possesses backward projecting spines that encircle the thorax. |
| eggs travel glued to a mosquito or a tick | 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") |
| dangerLevel: Medium | 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) |

## 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.

https://doi.org/10.1590/S0074-02762003000700013

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| It was carrying 20 eggs on its left side. | 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') |
| In Brazil's Tinguá reserve, researchers trapped one such carrier | 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) |
| In Brazil's Tinguá reserve, researchers trapped one such carrier, a Hemilucilia segmentaria fly, in 2001. | a female was captured in May 2001, carrying a mass of 20 eggs on the left side of its abdomen |