Studies on Hippobosca maculata Leach and H. equina L. in the Dutch East Indian Archipelago

Abstract

Our knowledge regarding the biology of Hippoboscidae is but fragmentary. Leuckart (1858) and Pratt (1900) have described the embryology of Melophagus ovinus L. Austen (1903), who described the puparium of Hippobosca maculata Leach, found that the females soon starve when removed from their host. Austen continues: “It is believed that the females of the genus Hippobosca deposit their larvae on the ground, but it is not definitely known, whether they bury them or merely place them on the surface. Several pupae of H. maculata have been found in the calf sheds of the King Institute, but it is not clear, as to whether they were intentionally or accidentally deposited there.” Theobald (1908), on the contrary, asserts that female H. camelina and H. maculata attach their pupae to their host's hair. Massonat (1909) relates that the pupation period of H. equina varies with the temperature.