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Home » Forums » General Discussion

What is it?

Im new here and at a delema

I noticed about a week ago, Poco (my horse) had smaller blood spots in her ears, etc and i was thinking great she has ear mites, I look it up and find horses rarely get ear mites but can get bitten by gnats. ok no biggie right? I managed to get out today, I was going to put some SWAT(A fly repellent you can use on or around wounds, can also kill flies on contact) on her ears. Which was a job in itself, let me tell you, she did not want me even looking at the inside of her ears much less rubbing something into them! Well I applied the SWAT and on my glove is what i figured was a clump of dirt and dried blood. So I tossed it, I go back to Poco in time to see the ODDEST thing I have ever seen. If that was a Gnat then it needs to be in the guiness book of records! It was HUGE!

I dont have a pic and it got away before i could grab it with something, I remember at least 2 live ones escaping, and At least 4 dead ones from the SWAT, I did take a picture of those but they look like boogers, They are about 3 milimeters thick and about 5 milimeters long, a dark brown/black around the head and main body portion and on the abdomen they are a creamy tan colour. They can fly and are doing so to get away from the SWAT.

Can anyone tell me what they may be?

ETA: I am In Montgomery AL, if that helps any
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Contributed by MiAmor on 22 March, 2008 - 11:12pm

Horse External Parasites
Here is a link to see the normal parasites. UFL.EDU.
… Lynette Schimming, 23 March, 2008 - 10:45am login or register to post comments

 
I caught two but one escaped,
I caught two but one escaped, the only difference between these and the ones i descibed is that the bellie is not streached out


… MiAmor, 23 March, 2008 - 8:27pm login or register to post comments

Nothing seems obvious from your description
but one group of flying insects that parasitize mammals is the Bot Flies, Family Oestridae. The larvae live under the skin, with only an air hole showing, then pupate and emerge as adult flies.

We only seem to have pictures of the rodent- and rabbit- infesting ones, but there are others that infest livestock (including horses).
… Chuck Entz, 22 March, 2008 - 11:43pm login or register to post comments

 
I did do a check on those, bu
I did do a check on those, but they dont look like what i saw, and they lay their eggs on the legs where the horse can lick them off. So I'm relieved about that!
… MiAmor, 23 March, 2008 - 12:18am login or register to post comments

Not an ID
but anything like this?
http://bugguide.net/node/view/13382/bgimage
Just to get the discussion started.
… John R. Maxwell, 22 March, 2008 - 11:29pm login or register to post comments

 
noo, not quite, To me they se
noo, not quite, To me they seem like giant fleas with wings and odd colouration, thats the easiest description i can come up with. I'm going to the barn tomorrow and i can see if there are any more, but I dont know how long it will take for the SWAT I applied today to wear off.
… MiAmor, 22 March, 2008 - 11:39pm login or register to post comments

 
Black flies?
I strongly suspect black flies, family Simuliidae. The size you give fits fairly well. If you live anywhere near a fast-flowing stream, then I'm fairly certain that is the insect in question. Black fly larvae are aquatic, anchoring themselves to stones and filter-feeding in the strong current. Black flies will also torment people, though, so I'm surprised you haven't been bitten as well....
… Eric R. Eaton, 24 March, 2008 - 11:11am login or register to post comments

 
I do know there is a creek do
I do know there is a creek down at the bottom across the trail, I dont know how deep or fast it is since I havnt ridden down there lately.
… MiAmor, 24 March, 2008 - 3:04pm login or register to post comments

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