SB 818 C578 ENT No. 115. Issued April 15, 1910. _Aited States Department of Agriculture, BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY. L. 0. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. THE HORN FLY. (Hematobia serrata Rob.-Desv.) By C. L. Martart, M.S., Assistant Entomologist and Acting Chief in Absence of Chief. INTRODUCTION AND SPREAD. The horn fly is one of the worst of the European biting flies that attack cattle, but, curiously enough, it failed to reach this continent until a comparatively late date, notwithstanding abundant impor- tations of live stock from Europe during nearly three centuries. It FIG. 1.—Horn fly (Hzmatobia serrata): a, Egg; b, larva; c, puparium; d, adultin resting position. Much enlarged. (From Riley and Howard.) was first discovered and reported to this Bureau in the fall of 1887 as occurring near Camden, N. J. The following year it appeared in Maryland and Virginia, and thereafter spread rather rapidly, and by 1891-1892 it was found over the continent from Canada to Texas 19566—Cir. 115—10 ansonian lnstitug™ " The horn fly exhibits a certain preference for red or other dark- colored cattle, and that such animals are more thickly infested has been frequently noted. When the insects are abundant, however, this preference is not so strongly marked. Occasionally sores are formed on the animals, which in the South and West may become infested with the screw worm (Chrysomyia macellaria Fab.). These’ wounds or sores are, as a rule, only indirectly the result of horn-fly attacks, but are commonly produced by the rubbing of the cattle in efforts to allay the irritation from the bites. The loss occasioned by the horn fly to other animals is, as a rule, inconsiderable. Sometimes horses are attacked, and especially cow ponies, and injury to sheep, as pointed out by Norgaard,* is compli- cated with sheep scab. LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. The appearance and abundance of the flies is governed by tem- perature and rainfall. In the latitude of Washington they are first noticed in May, and become most abundant in July, gradually dwindling to November or until sharp, frosty nights become frequent. Farther south they appear earlier and remain in evidence later. The study of this insect in Texas by agents of this Bureau, notably Mr. J. D. Mitchell, at Victoria, indicates that the fly reaches its first maxi- mum of abundance in May. During the subsequent dry period the fly decreases in numbers until fall rains begin, when a second maxi- mum is reached in late September, which is checked by the frosts of the latter part of October. Continuing on from then until March the fly is kept down to comparatively small numbers by low tempera- tures. The reduction of the numbers of the fly in Texas by a dry, hot summer is sometimes as great as 95 per cent from the maximum -of May. The characteristic habit of the fly in clustering about the base of the horn is developed only when the flies are abundant. When they average only 100 or so to an animal, comparatively few will be found on the horns. The horn-clustering habit is more noticeable in the spring and early summer than in autumn. The horns are not the only resting places, and many of the flies cluster upon the back, be- tween the head and the fore shoulders, where they can be reached by neither head nor tail. When the cattle are feeding, the flies are found over the back and flank and on the legs, and during a rain- storm they flock beneath the belly. When the animal is lying down, a favorite place of attack seems to be under the thigh and back belly around the udder. The characteristic appearance of the flies on the horn is indicated in the accompanying illustration (fig. 2). a Rep. Agr. and Forestry, Hawaii, 1905, pp. 171, 211, 212. [Cir. 115] 5) In the feeding position the wings are slightly elevated, and are held out from the body at an angle of 60° from the abdomen; the legs are held out widely, and the beak, inserted beneath the skin of the animal, is directed almost perpendicularly (see fig. 3, c). Before inserting its beak the fly works its way through the hair close to the skin, but is able at the least sign of danger to rise instantly in flight, to return as quickly. The characteristic appearance of the fly is shown in the accompanying illustration (fig. 1). It is about half the size of the house fly, which it closely resembles, but is much less robust. Differing from other biting flies, the horn fly normally stays on the cattle night and day, and when not feeding rests on the cattle as already described. Fic. 2.—Cow-horn showing band of resting horn flies. Reduced. (From Riley and Howard.) The egg-laying habit of the insect was not easily discovered and is somewhat peculiar. The eggs are laid singly and usually upon. their sides upon the surface of wet dung. The moment the latter is dropped, a swarm of flies dart from the animal to the dung and re- main there a few seconds, or a minute at the most, during which time many eggs are deposited. Egg laying is chiefly during day- light, between 9 a.m. and 4 p. m., and most abundant during the warmer morning hours. So far as we know, they are laid upon no other substance, and never upon old dung. The larve upon hatching descend into the dung, remaining, how- ever, rather near the surface. When full grown they are about two- fifths of an inch in length and of the normal color and form of the related dung maggots. The puparium is formed in the ground be- neath the dung. The time elapsing from the egg to the adult is from ten to seventeen days, and there are probably seven or eight genera- tions annually in the latitude of Washington, with more in the South, [Cir.115] 6 and continuous breeding ina tropical region like the Hawaiian Islands. The winter habits as studied near Washington, D. C., indicate that hibernation normally takes place either in the adult stage or as puparia below the surface of the ground. PARASITES AND NATURAL ENEMIES. The natural enemies of the horn fly, like those of most other dung- breeding flies, are destructive to the insect in its larval and pupal stages. Therefore the bringing over of the insect from Europe in the adult stage with cattle resulted necessarily in its freedom for a time from the control by such natural enemies. The similar enemies of other dung flies in this country, however, undoubtedly very soon began to exercise a certain degree of control, and this may account Fic. 3.—Horn fly: a, Head of female, front view; b, head of male, front view; c, head from side. Greatly enlarged. (From Riley and Howard.) somewhat, at least, for the much greater damage occasioned by the horn fly in the first years of its occurrence in the different zones of its spread across the continent than was the case during subsequent years. Very early after the appearance of the horn fly it was noted by Mr. F. M. Webster that in Ohio fully, 20 per cent of the flies were infested by one of the scarlet mite fly parasites (Gamaside). This mite was not determined, but was probably one of the native species commonly seen on other flies. The introduction of the horn fly into the Hawaiian Islands and the heavy losses there occasioned by it led to an active investigation on the part of the island authorities of parasites and predaceous enemies. Mr. Albert Koebele imported, in 1905, from New South Wales, quan- tities of material from which dung beetles were reared and introduced into the islands. In 1906 Mr. Koebele came to the United States and made extensive collections of material in California and Arizona, and from this material at least six or seven species of dung beetles were introduced into the Hawaiian Islands, and two species of true parasites. [Cir. 115] 7 The beetles in question are those which habitually live in cattle dung and feed upon living maggots therein, or are of the tumblebug variety which disintegrate the dung shortly after deposition, thus preventing or checking the breeding of the flies. The true parasites reared from material sent by Mr. Koebele from Arizona proved to be Eucolia impatiens Say, styled ‘‘the Arizona dung-fly parasite,” and a species of Eutrias, styled ‘‘the lesser dung- fly parasite.” These two minute four-winged flies are undoubtedly normally enemies of native dung-breeding flies, but take readily to the horn fly. They were reared in considerable numbers and dis- tributed among the ranchmen on the islands. It is too early yet to determine whether these importations will be of much practical value in controlling the horn fly. Two other similar minute Hymenopterous parasites, belonging to the genus Spalangia, were reared by Mr. Kotinsky from pup of the common stable fly (Stomorys calcitrans 1..), from material collected on the Island of Hawaii. One of these, Spalangia hirta Haliday, confined with horn-fly pup, promptly attacked the latter, and in three or four weeks a brood of these parasites was successfully reared. Later, horn-fly pupz collected in the field were found parasitized by this species. The other parasite, S. lanaiensis Ashm., supposed to be a native species, was also again reared from Dipterous pupe. That both of these will become important enemies of the horn fly seems to be established. MEANS OF CONTROL. The simple means of prevention of abundance of the flies by the destruction of larve in the dung and the protection of animals from the attacks of the adults, suggested in the earlier investigation of the subject by this Bureau, have remained the standard means of control, with some improvements and amplification enabling them to be carried out on a larger scale and at less cost. There are two principal methods of control—one, the destruction of the larve and pup in the cattle dung by direct measures or by the action of natural enemies already discussed; and the other, the protection of cattle either by the use of repellent ointments or by the actual capture and destruc- tion of the adult flies. Repellents —Almost any greasy substance will keep the flies away for from a few hours to several days. A great many oils and fats have been experimented with, and the commercial product known as fish or train oil, first suggested, remains the best easily available oint- ment. The protection by the use of this mixture varies in different regions. In the dry, hot area of the West and Southwest protection lasts only two or three days; in the more moist and cooler regions of the [Cir. 115] 8 East and North, five or six days. This oil costs from 50 to 75 cents a gallon. The addition of a little sulphur or carbolic acid is of benefit, the latter making the application somewhat healing if any sores have been formed. Where only a few animals are to be treated, as a home supply of dairy cattle or a dairy herd, the application can be made with a common painter’s brush. It may be unnecessary to attempt to protect the entire animal, but only those parts not reached by the head or tail, although the more completely the animal is covered the greater will be the reduction of loss. In Virginia Prof. W. B. Alwood found that animals could be treated with the standard insecticide, kerosene emulsion, applied with a small hand-spray pump. This application killed all the flies that were actually wetted by it and gave protection to the treated animals for two days. With a little tobacco water added he found two appli- cations a week sufficient, using from 1 to 2 pints for each animal. The application was made just after milking, and was only tested on dairy animals. 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