Bot Fly - Cuterebra buccata

Moved

… john and jane balaban, 20 August, 2009 - 2:54pm

Cuterebra buccata

Sweet! Really nice shot Jennifer! This is a rabbit bot (they all -so far -have red eyes in the known rabbit bots while alive, and the pattern of red may help to ID species). This one is Cuterebra buccata. The white on the lower face, combined with overall pattern,color and spots as well as your location, narrow it to this species. It is a parasite of primarily Sylvilagus floridanus, based on about 50 reared from this host from a number of locations. I would love a copy of your digital picture of this one. What was the habitat like where you saw this one? And what time of day did you spot it.
Thanks for the post.
Jeff

… George "Jeff" Boettner, 20 August, 2009 - 10:02am

Bot fly

Jeff -
Thanks so much for taking a look and the ID of the species for me! I was excited to find it, I had never seen a bot fly in person but kind of thought that was as soon as I saw it. I have several more shots of the fly on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jensdigiphotos/
in the diptera set, you may download whichever ones you like. The area I found it in is called Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve, it's more like a small prairie area, the area as a whole is rural and has a lot of old stripmining areas. I found it early afternoon in a dry weedy/grassy area. Again thanks so much for your interest, I really appreciate it!
Jen

… Jennifer Richmond, 20 August, 2009 - 3:17pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… john and jane balaban, 18 August, 2009 - 8:39pm

i agree + neat shot

I think it's a bot fly as well. That's a really nice shot. Wish I could find one. They certainly are interesting looking, and their habits are kind of gross to think about :)

… Andrew Williams, 18 August, 2009 - 7:52pm

gross

yes, thanks - been reading a little more about them and it's making my skin crawl!

… Jennifer Richmond, 18 August, 2009 - 8:22pm

Great image!

I've alerted my friend Jeff Boettner, an authority on these flies, to take a look at this image and maybe get you a species ID. These are not commonly seen as adults. They don't even have mouthparts to feed, so are on the wing for only about a week.

… Eric R. Eaton, 19 August, 2009 - 10:17am

bot fly

Ooo - thanks a lot Eric!

… Jennifer Richmond, 19 August, 2009 - 3:42pm