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+--- Thread: Are Botfly's Found in Puna? (/showthread.php?tid=11477)
Are Botfly's Found in Puna? - 7Shadows - 09-26-2013
Here's a creepy critter, are they found in Puna?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90exkFR2iSM
RE: Are Botfly's Found in Puna? - ericlp - 09-26-2013
Nope not here (YET)... if the fire ants and coque can get here I don't see why a few botflys can't make it over.
Usually, since more visitors pass though Oahu... Oahu will get it first... Then it will pass through onto other islands. I could see these things coming here already in the host and dropping to spread to Hawaii one day.
is there such a thing as a human bot fly? Yes, we're sorry to say there is. Called the torsalo, Dermatobia hominis, occurs in Mexico and Central America. Fortunately, getting one is an extremely unlikely occurrence for the average visitor.
RE: Are Botfly's Found in Puna? - Peter Epperson - 09-26-2013
Our mule, but not our donkeys would often get attacked by bot flies. The animals spend most of their time in Kau. I don't remember seeing any bots in Puna but I don't see why not. They aren't like in the YouTube video though. The fly itself lays the eggs on the animals fur. When the animal licks the itch where the eggs got laid they pass through the system and surface near the skin and hatch out later. Nature isn't always a beautiful thing.
RE: Are Botfly's Found in Puna? - Obie - 09-26-2013
Did you hear the part that said "You only need to bathe every 6 weeks and you won't have a problem ??????"
RE: Are Botfly's Found in Puna? - Malapuaao - 09-27-2013
If you have livestock and don't give them dewormers botfly will come...in Puna.
aloha
RE: Are Botfly's Found in Puna? - Rene Siracusa - 09-27-2013
Sorry to tell you that there ARE bot flies in Puna. They attack livestock, lay eggs, etc. It is hard to see a live animal crawling with maggots. If the animal owner does nothing about them, the animal will die. At the first sign of bot flies I have learned the hard way to spray the animal with Bronco several times a day (as needed)and move the animal to another area, if possible. But I think that the bot flies will not attack just any healthy animal - they may be attracted to one that has parasites. So one has to keep the livestock up to date on their worming.
RE: Are Botfly's Found in Puna? - Midnight Rambler - 09-27-2013
The livestock botflies will occasionally attack people, and while the maggots will not develop past the first stage, they can do some damage in that time, especially if they get in the eye. They fly in extremely fast, and the sheep/goat fly deposits maggots instead of eggs so there's not much time to get them out. There was a case a few years ago of three guys in Puako who were attacked while eating lunch and had a total of 15 maggots removed from their eyes, and just recently a volunteer at Mt. Kaala got one. Puna shouldn't be so bad since there aren't so many goats here. As Peter said, the horse and cattle botflies lay eggs on the coat, so it's less common that they involve people.