Horse gadfly: what is its danger?

Horse gadfly is a full-cycle insect that parasitizes horses and donkeys. Because of the features of his life, he received another name - gastric gadfly. The thing is that the females of these insects make egg laying, as a rule, on the body of animal hosts or on plants that they feed on. Over time, larvae emerge from the eggs, which independently or together with food penetrate the esophagus, where they mature, resulting in inflammation in the tissues.

Description

Horse gadfly belongs to the family of gastric gadfly and is a representative of one of the most common species. The length of his body can be from 1.2 to 1.6 cm. The color is yellow-brown, heterogeneous - there are dark spots. The whole body is covered with silky protruding hairs. There are antennae on the head, brown spots are visible in the places of their attachment, the rest of the face is white.
The equine gastric gadfly has wings, the surface of which is decorated with a transverse smoky strip and spots of the same hue at the peaks. Sexual dimorphism is developed, which is manifested by a process on the swivel of the hind legs in males.

Life cycle

The gastric gadfly is an insect with a full cycle of transformation, that is, its development occurs according to the following scheme:

• egg;
• larva;
• pupa;
• imago.

The full cycle of their development proceeds throughout the year.

On a note! According to observations, scientists are of the opinion that males and females mate in the same place every year, after which the latter immediately go in search of an animal on whose body eggs will be laid.

Eggs

Years of horse gadfly begins around June and lasts until October. Moreover, if the weather is cloudy, then years will occur only at a sufficiently high air temperature - at least +13 ... 14 ° C. On a sunny day, insects remain active even at relatively low thermometer values ​​- at +6 ... 8 ° C.

At this time, the females are engaged in the search for an animal, whose body will subsequently become a kind of soil for the development of offspring. She glues eggs on the fly, both on the victim's hairline and on the fodder plants. In one clutch, there can be about 500-700 eggs - such fertility of females allows you to maintain the existence of a relatively small species.
The eggs of the gastric gadfly reach a maximum of 1.2 mm in length, have a white color, and therefore they can be detected with the naked eye on the dark hair of a horse or donkey.

Larva

Larvae emerge from eggs after 3-7 days - this will depend on weather conditions. If the larva hatched on the surface of the animal’s body, then it immediately begins to invade its skin, thereby violating the integrity of the cover and causing very strong discomfort - painful sensations and intense itching. Subsequently, the horses lick the larvae from their bodies with the tongue, and thus, they fall into the oral cavity.

On a note! The larvae are quite capable of independently reaching the animal’s mouth - they simply cling to the hairline with their hooks and move in this way!

The larva of the gastric gadfly spends some time in the mouth of its “owner” - it settles in the tissues of its tongue, where it lives for about a month. The larva goes through several stages of its development.

• After the first molt, the young growth begins to make moves in the mucous membranes, through which they first reach the pharynx, then follow into the stomach. Often in the stomach of horses and donkeys are found from several tens to several hundred parasitic larvae of the gadfly. Some of the younger generation enters the animal’s stomach with food.
• By the second stage of development, the larva increases in size: from 1.5 mm to 1.5 cm. In the stomach, with the help of their mouth hooks, they harden and gradually each grows with adjacent tissues. As a result, the front end of the larva is transformed into a tumor that tightly covers all the spines located on its body. Thus, the young generation is held in the body of the animal throughout the winter.
• The larvae enter the third phase in the spring. By that time, their body length reaches 2 cm. The larvae survive another molt, as a result they get rid of the skin that previously held them in the tissues. The body takes on a meat-red color.

Doll

The pupation phase of the larvae occurs in the ground or in manure. At this time, young growth is characterized by low mobility. The duration of development will depend on air temperature and the presence of precipitation, on average it takes from 34 to 44 days.

Imago

An imago emerges from the pupa, and this process proceeds with lightning speed - it takes about 2-3 seconds to turn a horse gadfly into an adult. And even after a minute, the newly-found insect gains the ability to fly and reaches puberty.

Adult gastric gadflies do not feed, as they use resources that were accumulated in the larval stage. Adult individuals live for a relatively short time - from 3 to 20 days. During this time, the insect loses about a third of its body mass.

On a note! Their life expectancy is affected by weather conditions. So, if the weather is damp, cool and cloudy, the years of insects will immediately stop, thanks to which they will be able to save a significant share of energy and will live for several days longer!

Malware

The vital activity of gastric gadfly does not lead to the death of the host animal, and therefore these insects are true parasites.

On a note! However, at the same time, some subspecies and representatives of certain varieties are still able to eat the ovaries of their carrier!

Horse gadflies cause certain difficulties for people who care for horses involved in equestrian sports. The egg laying of the parasite sometimes occupies rather large areas of the animal’s body: the inner surface of the legs, the tibia, knees, mucous membrane and the surface of the nose, sometimes the throat. In this case, eggs should be removed immediately so that the larvae hatching from them could not harm the health of the animal.

In general, the harmfulness of the gastric gadfly is as follows:

1. Often, during the breeding season of these insects, horses form rather large tumors, and some reach the size of a thumbnail. The tumor itself does not cause much discomfort, but the horse loses its working capacity - if the affected area is in the area where the bridle or saddle will be placed, then gradually due to friction the wound will begin to increase.
2. Larvae that live in the animal’s oral cavity contribute to the development of mucosal wounds that live in the digestive tract — stomach ulcers or obstruction of the anus, which leads to colic.
3. The eggs located on the hairs of the animal’s body are quite difficult to remove, as the tendons and bone are located very close to the skin, especially in the tibia. And the eggs are removed only with a sharp knife, blade or sandpaper, which greatly increases the risk of injury.

On a note! Plus, during egg maturation there is a high risk of human infection!