What do you think of when you hear gasterophilus intestinalis, you’re probably thinking what is that. well it is commonly known as the horse bot fly. This fly originated in Africa, and is most commonly found in the Americas’ but can be found anywhere that horses are found. This species of gasterophilusare range from one to two inches in length. Are yellowish brown in color and resemble the common bumble bee.

Gasterophilus intestinalis tend to hang around there host horse. They lay their eggs around the neck. After they eggs have been deposited the horse lick the eggs of their hair while their self-grooming. Once the eggs have reached the mouth the heat strengthens the hatching process. After they have hatched the larvae make their way to the stomach where the second and third stage of their life take place. Once they have reached the stomach they go ion and proceed the small and large intestines here they can cause gastrointestinal problems such as restlessness and irritability.

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When the bot fly is in the stomach it hooks on with strong latch  things attached to its head area. They stay and feed off the blood of the host horse for 9-11 months then pass through the intestines and come out the anal area in the feces of the horse. There they stay for 2-3 weeks and emerge as adults. Once they have emerged as adults they will go off and find a new host horse to start this process over again.
 

The horse bot fly has many predators including the parasitic wasp which lays its eggs on the larva of the fly and the wasp’s larva will kill the fly. Others are bats, nighthawks, and flycatchers are also predators of the horse bot fly. A more vicious predator is the robber fly. The robber fly will perch itself up on a stem or plant leaf and attack bees bot flies dragons flies and many other insects. The mountain bluebird will use the botflies as food for its young. Sometimes the kingbird will also eat this fly.

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So in conclusion the bot fly is an amazing, disgusting, fascinating insect that feeds off the blood of horses stomachs. The bot fly is one of the most fascinating of its kind the kingdom this fly comes from is Aniamlia the phylum is Anthropoda the class is Insecta the order is Dipteria the family is Oestridae the genus is Gasterophilus and the species is Gasterophilus Intestinalis. This insect is  truly amazing.

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Author: Destinee J
Published: 2/2013
 
Sources: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/livestock/horse_bot_fly.htm

Photo Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gasterophilusintestinalis.JPG