Method for collecting Hypoderma spp. (Diptera: Oestridae) larvae from cattle.

ABSTRACT

A new method for collecting 3rd-instar Hypoderma lineatum (Villers) and Hypoderma bovis (L.) is described. A procedure for carrying out chronobiological and other studies involving the life cycle of these flies is included. The larvae are collected from cattle using a dressing made of a circle of cardboard attached to a piece of tulle similar in color to the coat of the animal. These small cloth cages were attached to the animal skin with fast-drying contact glue wherever the swellings produced by 2nd- or 3rd-instar Hypoderma spp. had been previously detected. Each animal was inspected daily to detect the appearance of new larvae. This procedure allows the collection of each emerged larva without contact with other larvae and avoids friction of the cloth cages or dressing with the larvae, thus reducing larval death and increasing viability of the parasite.