''Cephenemyia ulrichii'' or the moose botfly, also called the elk botfly, moose nose botfly or moose throat botfly, is a large

botfly Botflies, also known as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies, are a family of flies known as the Oestridae. Their larvae are internal parasites of mammals, some species growing in the host's flesh and others within the gut. '' Dermatobia hom ...

that resembles a

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera ...

. In the wild, they attack chiefly the nostrils and pharyngeal cavity of

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

(also known as elk in Europe), but have been found in other

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 ...

species. There have also been several cases of ''C. ulrichii'' squirting their larvae into the eyes of human beings, a somewhat painful event that requires medical attention to forestall any possibility of serious damage.

Description

The adult ''C. ulrichii'' botfly is 16–18 mm long, its body covered with fluffy hairs of yellow, black and white, making it look like a bumblebee. Mouth parts are reduced and, like other adult ''Cephenemyia'', they cannot feed. Eggs hatch inside the female into first instar larvae, which are minute, white with black heads and barbed. In sunny weather, from July to September, females seek out an appropriate host site, typically the nostrils of a moose, and forcefully eject larvae onto its surface. Larvae enter their second instar in the moose's nostrils, then travel to its throat for the third instar. Third instar larvae have rows of spines on both ventral and dorsal surfaces and may be up to 4 cm long. When fully formed, the larva is ejected by the moose, mixed with blood and mucus. It pupates in the soil.

Habitat

''C. ulrichii'' are common parasites of moose in northeastern parts of Scandinavia, but have recently expanded their range into southern Sweden. They have also been reported in Denmark, northeast Norway and the Baltic states. * * Although once thought to be a species specific to ''

Alces alces The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult male ...

'', they have recently been found in western roe deer (''

Capreolus capreolus The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

'') near Helsinki.

Economic and medical impact

Several cases of human ophthalmomyiasis due to ''C. ulrichii'' have been reported in Sweden and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In one case in 2010, a woman was walking in the woods near

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabitan ...

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...

, Sweden, when a moose botfly squirted more than 30 larvae into her eye. The larvae were removed by a doctor before they attached to the cornea, which can cause serious damage. Due to their barbs, it is difficult to wash the larvae out of the eye. - "When the female botfly mistakes a human for a suitable host animal, she is probably in fact mistaking the human eye, which is forward-facing, for the host animal's nostrils. The "normal" host animals' nostrils are forward-facing, like the human eye. The nostrils of a human, however, are downward-facing and are therefore hardly visible to the botfly." One physician has suggested that ''C. ulrichii'' mistakes a human eye for the nostril of a moose because human eyes face forward, as do moose nostrils. Botfly larvae of other kinds have also been known to cause eye problems for human beings.

References

External links

*
Cephenemyia ulrichii
' at Fauna Europaea {{Taxonbar, from=Q4353176 Oestridae Parasitic flies Muscomorph flies of Europe Taxa named by Friedrich Moritz Brauer Insects described in 1863