Botfly - Cuterebra lepivora

Cropping

Such a nice find! It would show a lot better if you cropped it closer to the bug. Remember that only you and the editors can see the full size image. Most people miss all the details of uncropped images.

… Beatriz Moisset, 25 October, 2010 - 8:01am

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… v belov, 12 September, 2010 - 1:09pm

Cuterebra lepivora

Hi Stonebird,
Nice find. This is Cuterebra lepivora and it does use rabbits,(Sylvilagus audubonii and S. nuttallii), as a host. This is primarily a California native, although it can range from the Mexico border in CA to northern OR (with at least one WA state record). The larva of this fly generally lives in the neck of the rabbits listed above.
I am glad you had several shots of this one. This species can look a lot like C. jellisoni but the rear end shot helps id this one as C. lepivora. This species does use lek sites. There is a nice paper on this species by R. P. Meyer and M. E. Bock. 1980. Aggregation and territoriality of C. lepivora in Journal of Medical Entomology Vol 17, pages 489-493.
Always love the bot shots. Thanks for posting.

… George "Jeff" Boettner, 12 September, 2010 - 9:44am

Cuterebra lepivora

Thank you George. The Botfly was perched on dried Chrysanthemum on the edge of a trail and facing into an island of coastal scrub that foraging Audubon's Cottontail leaving the field will disappear into. This is about 2 miles from the coast on the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.

… stonebird, 12 September, 2010 - 12:48pm

Very cool. This species l

Very cool. This species loves the coast! Often found very close to the coast. I suspect the males tend to lek (ie fight over prime spots for mating) overlooking the coast. If you look at the other bugguide posts for this species there are a few classic male site shots. By the eye pattern and spacing I think yours is female. The males in this species tend to show more red in the eyes. So she is likely watching for "wabbits!".

… George "Jeff" Boettner, 12 September, 2010 - 1:05pm

Not just the coast!

I am in Reno, Nevada and we found one in our house today. Sure enough, cotton tail rabbits are breeding like crazy right now...

… palmtreedeprived, 11 August, 2011 - 4:13pm

please post pics

Hi in Reno,
Do please post a picture if you have one. I would also be interested in the specimen if you still have it. I am working on dna for a key to the bots. I suspect a different species as these bots look very similar but there are 40+ species in the US. C. lepivora is only known primarily from CA, plus a few records from OR and WA. This would be a new record for NV. But these guys are tough to ID from even pics. But if you have pics I will give it a shot.

… George "Jeff" Boettner, 11 August, 2011 - 7:44pm

Pictures?

Can you submit a photo to Bugguide? It would be a valuable contribution.

… Beatriz Moisset, 11 August, 2011 - 4:16pm