Comments on: Rabbit Bot Fly http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2009/04/12/rodent-bot-fly-2/ Are we experts yet? Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:43:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: equalrights4parasites http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2009/04/12/rodent-bot-fly-2/comment-page-1/#comment-59199 equalrights4parasites Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:43:51 +0000 http://www.whatsthatbug.com/?p=15406#comment-59199 Mountain Girl, Wow! Did you take any other pics of this fly before you released it? This is for sure a rabbit botfly of the Genus Cuterebra. The undersized wings are actually halteres, which help stabilize the flies in flight, (these guys are very fast fliers). They are reluctant to fly, because bots have no mouthparts (and cannot feed or store new energy) and therefore are born with fat reserves that are depleted with each flight. They generally live only 10 days or so. It is too bad this picture is so blurry. I believe this may be a photo of Cuterebra cochisei, which is only known from 1 male and 1 female specimen! If so this would be only the third record of this species. But it would help to see this fly from other angles. If you have any other pics, even blurry ones, please post them. The only 2 other specimens were collected in AZ in fall, so I am hesitant to call yours this species for sure. But it is not a common bot. This one has me confused, but it is a rabbit bot for sure from the red spots in the eyes. Thanks for the post! Great find. Yours may be the only picture of this species alive with the eye spots. The eye spots disappear after death. Jeff Boettner Mountain Girl,
Wow! Did you take any other pics of this fly before you released it? This is for sure a rabbit botfly of the Genus Cuterebra. The undersized wings are actually halteres, which help stabilize the flies in flight, (these guys are very fast fliers). They are reluctant to fly, because bots have no mouthparts (and cannot feed or store new energy) and therefore are born with fat reserves that are depleted with each flight. They generally live only 10 days or so.
It is too bad this picture is so blurry. I believe this may be a photo of Cuterebra cochisei, which is only known from 1 male and 1 female specimen! If so this would be only the third record of this species. But it would help to see this fly from other angles. If you have any other pics, even blurry ones, please post them. The only 2 other specimens were collected in AZ in fall, so I am hesitant to call yours this species for sure. But it is not a common bot. This one has me confused, but it is a rabbit bot for sure from the red spots in the eyes. Thanks for the post! Great find. Yours may be the only picture of this species alive with the eye spots. The eye spots disappear after death.

Jeff Boettner

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