Accessibility of blood affects the attractiveness of cattle to horn flies

The burden of infestation of the horn fly, Haematobia irritans (Linnaeus) (Diptera: Muscidae), differs among bovines within the same herd. We hypothesized that these differences might be related to the epidermal thickness of the cattle and the blood intake capacity of the fly. Results showed that da...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical and veterinary entomology 2014-03, Vol.28 (1), p.116-118
Main Authors: BREIJO, M, ROCHA, S, URES, X, PEDRANA, G, ALONZO, P, MEIKLE, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Blood
blood feeding
body weight
Cattle
Cattle - anatomy & histology
Cattle - blood
Diptera
Entomology
epidermis
Epidermis - anatomy & histology
Feeding Behavior
Female
Haematobia irritans
hemoglobin
herds
Insects
Male
Muscidae
Muscidae - physiology
phenotypes
Uruguay
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Summary:The burden of infestation of the horn fly, Haematobia irritans (Linnaeus) (Diptera: Muscidae), differs among bovines within the same herd. We hypothesized that these differences might be related to the epidermal thickness of the cattle and the blood intake capacity of the fly. Results showed that dark animals carried more flies and had a thinner epidermis than light‐coloured animals, which was consistent with the greater haemoglobin content found in flies caught on darker cattle. Similarly, epidermal thickness increased with body weight, whereas haemoglobin content decreased. Overall, we suggest that accessibility of blood is a factor that partially explains cattle attractiveness to flies.
ISSN:0269-283X
1365-2915
DOI:10.1111/mve.12008