The Effect of Bot Fly Larvae on Reproduction in White-footed Mice, Peromyscus leucopus

Do Bot Flies, Cuterebra (Diptera: Cuterebridae), Emasculate their Hosts?

“…Significantly lower erythrocyte counts, hematocrit percentages, albumin-globulin ratios, and hemoglobin concentrations were found in mice parasitized by cuterebrid larvae, while the leucocyte number, spleen size, and thymus size were significantly larger (see Bennett 1973, Childs & Cosgrove 1966, Clough 1965, Dunaway et al 1967, McKinney & Christian 1970, Payne et al 1965, Selander 1961, Timm & Cook 1979. Tissue damage by Cuterebra was reported by Payne & Cosgrove (1966), but they found healing and repair of damaged tissue tg be rapid once the bot emerged.…”

“…Smith (1977) reported a reduction in testes size in Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) artificially infected with Cuterebra. Timm & Cook (1979) demonstrated that, in adult female White-footed Mice parasitized by Cuterebra fontinella, there was no significant decrease in the number of embryos, corpora lutea, or placental scars; in adult male mice the presence of I or 2 larvae had no effect on the size of the reproductive organs. A few authors have suggested that high populations of Cuterebra one year may cause a decrease in mouse populations the following year (Hensley 1976, Selander 1961, Sillman 1955, Wecker 1962, but this has yet to be carefully documented.…”

“…The genus Cuterebra is found only in the New World; Old World murid rodents and rabbits exposed to cuterebrids experience greater hardships and mortality than New World cricetid rodents and rabbits (Catts 1965, Baird 1979. Timm & Cook (1979) postulated that many of the New World hosts have evolved a tolerance for cuterebrid parasitism.…”

Is Host Castration an Evolutionary Strategy of Bot Flies?

“…Our work on Cuterebra emasculator parasitizing the eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus, and C. fontinella parasitizing the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, demonstrated that bot flies are found exclusively in the subcutaneous region between the skin and underlying muscle (Timm and Cook, 1979;Timm and Lee, 1981). They do not consume muscle or reproductive tissue, but rather feed on "tissue debris and exudate produced" (Payne and Cosgrove, 1966, p. 212).…”

Is Host Castration an Evolutionary Strategy of Bot Flies?

“…(Timm and Cook, 1979;Timm and Lee, 1981). They do not consume muscle or reproductive tissue, but rather feed on "tissue debris and exudate produced" (Payne and Cosgrove, 1966, p. 212).…”