The Bot Fly.

Manawatu Herald, 14 January 1896, Page 2

The Bot Fly.

« In the case of this horse " bot " fly, the female hardly touches the animal, but, whilst lightly flying to and fro, places the eggs on the hairs, until the very numerous supply are laid. These are fixed by a kind of stfcky moisture on the shoulder, or on the mane, inside the knee, or on any other part selected. The maggot forms within the egg, and when it is ready to hatch, which may be in a period of from about five days to three weeks, the warmth and moisture of the horse's tongue in licking the infested hair causes the kind of lid or cap to open or crack, and the maggot within sticks to the tongue, and is thus gradually transferred to the stomach. Here the maggots fix themselves to the mucous membrane by means of two dark brown books, one of which is placed on each side of the slit which serves for a mouth, and they they nourish themselves by suction, and are considered to pass from 8 to 10 months in maggot state, attached by their mouth hooks to the lining membrane of a portion of the stomach. Sometimes there may be only a few of these maggots present; sometimes they are present in such numbers as to lie close op against each other over a large patch of surface, so that it hardly seemed possible to find room for another amongst them. Here they live until, when full fed, they lose their hold ; and after being thrown to the ground, turn to a brown pupa, from which the fly conies out in a few weeks. Fot prevention of i this "attack, such treatment as combiug, brushing or clipping hair, so as to get rid of the eggs, is sure to be of us-. The nit or egg can easily be got rid of by greasing the horse's hair and then rubbing it with a coarae cloth, or by applying warm water, which loosens their hold on 1 the hair." — Exchange.