The Gasterophilinae are a subfamily of Oestridae which includes large,

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

flies; this group has historically been treated as a family, but all recent classifications place them firmly within the Oestridae. Many members of this subfamily spend part of their larval stages in the digestive tracts of herbivores. The best known genus is ''

Gasterophilus ''Gasterophilus'', commonly known as botfly, is a genus of parasitic fly from the family Oestridae that affects different types of animals, especially horses, but it can also act on cows, sheep, and goats. A case has also been recorded in a huma ...

'', which attacks

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

, and similar animals. The genus ''

Cobboldia ''Cobboldia'' is a genus of parasitic flies in the family Oestridae. Adult flies of '' Cobboldia elephantis'' lay their eggs near the mouth or base of the tusks of Asian elephant while the related '' Cobboldia loxodontis'' (=''Platycobboldia loxod ...

'' breeds in

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

s. The genus ''

Gyrostigma ''Gyrostigma'' is a genus of botfly which parasitize rhinoceroses. The best-known species is '' Gyrostigma rhinocerontis'', the rhinoceros stomach botfly, which develops in the stomach lining of the Black Rhinoceros and White Rhinoceros of Africa, ...

'' breeds in

rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

es.

References

Oestridae Parasitic flies Brachycera subfamilies {{Oestroidea-stub