Deer louse fly

Deer louse fly
Deer louse fly ( Lipoptena cervi )
Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta) Order : Fly (Diptera) Subordination : Flies (Brachycera) Family : Louse flies (Hippoboscidae) Genre : Lipoptena Type : Deer louse fly
Scientific name
Lipoptena cervi
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The deer louse fly ( Lipoptena cervi ), also called "deer louse " for short, is a fly from the family of louse flies (Hippoboscidae)

features

This louse fly, possibly Lipoptena cervi , was in the hair of a human head. It is unclear whether she threw off the wings herself or whether they broke off when trying to remove the animal

These louse flies reach a body length of five to six millimeters, with 2.4 to 2.8 millimeters on the head and thorax . In addition to the compound eyes , point eyes are also formed. The mesonotum carries six to nine acrostichal bristles, three to four postal aristles and four to five prescutellar bristles. The wings have three longitudinal veins . The claw link of the tarsi is simple in construction, but strongly curved.

Occurrence and way of life

The animals are found everywhere and in large numbers in the Holarctic , especially near the forest. The species is an ectoparasite on various species of deer , badgers or wild boars . The deer louse feeds on blood sucking .

People are sometimes also flown to and - preferably in the neck - stabbed. The animals often carry a certain bacterium - the pathogen Bartonella schoenbuchensis . However, it is not yet certain whether bacteria will be transmitted to humans. There are few case reports that indicate unspecific complaints and skin inflammation in people who have been bitten.

After the host has been approached, the fly clings to it and breaks its wings. The females give birth to living larvae that are mature enough to pupate ( viviparia , more precisely pupiparia ); these pupate quickly on the ground. The adults of the new generation hatch in October and November and fly out in search of suitable hosts.

swell

literature

• Joachim & Hiroko Haupt: Flies and mosquitoes: observation, way of life. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-278-4 .
• Werner Jacobs and Maximilian Renner: Biology and ecology of insects. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-437-20352-5 . P. 300f. Hippoboscidae.

Web links

Commons : Deer Louse Fly  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Deer louse fly with already broken wings

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.aerztezeitung.de/panorama/article/969036/ungeklaertes-ris-menschen-unerforschter-blutsauger-anflug.html medical newspaper from August 7, 2018