Autumn Pests

Someone told me cows attract bot flies. Is this true?
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Q. Every fall, I see bot flies terrorizing my horses. I have tried to find a way to get rid of them or to even cut their numbers down, but I have not been successful. I have cows in the next pasture, and someone told me cows attract bot flies. Is this true?

Tracy, Oroville, Calif.


A. Bots are an inevitable aspect of equine ownership, but they are probably more bothersome to you than to your horse.

Bots are the equine representatives of a specialized family of flies (Oestridae) that employs a common strategy of spending the cold winter months within the body of a mammalian host. "Bots" (Gasterophilus spp.) winter in the stomach of horses, and "grubs" or "warbles" live in various tissues or under the skin of cattle (Hypoderma spp.) or rodents (Cuterebra spp.)

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Craig R. Reinemeyer, DVM, PhD, is president of East Tennessee Clinical Research, Inc., an independent business in Knoxville, Tenn., that conducts clinical pharmaceutical research for animal health companies.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
315 votes · 315 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!