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Project Noah Nature School
Cuterebra sp.
Larvae (19mm length x 7mm width) of a botfly that had parasitized a mouse. First 3 pics of larvae, last 3 pics of damage to the mouse and the hole it came out of. This link has some interesting info about Cuterebra. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index....
urban
I found this mouse yesterday on the floor in the backseat of my car. It did not smell and was still soft, suggesting, it was recently deceased. I was shocked and confused to see this large hole in its belly, near perfectly shaped. There was a fly buzzing around inside it, they don't waste anytime! This is my first time seeing botfly larvae.
Spotted on Jul 7, 2012
Submitted on Jul 8, 2012
30 Comments (1–25)
Thanks for all the interesting comments. No, Ashish, the mouse did not really smell at all. I think it would have if I had not found it sooner, as the weather here has been hot and dry.
Dan did mouse was smelled very badly...?
Do you think it is possible that this is also a type of botfly:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/114...
Pretty awesome. They call them "Torcelos" here in Costa. I have had to take out a bunch from under my dogs skin over the years. Luckily, I haven't had any yet personally. I think ours here is Dermatobia hominis but there are likely others.
Fabulous discovery.
Wow, that is big. I was expecting less than half that. I, too, have to sometimes warn people about what is in my refrigerator.
Awesome (in a slightly creepy way!) I'm glad you found the culprit!
Thanks for everyone's comments. This is right out of a sci fi movie! Keith, I can do better than approximate, I have the larvae chilling in my fridge. I should have put the size in the description, thanks for asking. It's quite large at 19mm long and 7mm body width.
Awesome image. Can you give us an approximate size?
spooky
That is both grim and so cool at the same time! What a weird looking thing, and a very interesting find!
Oh wow this is amazing, indeed is like SF :)
I've added pics of the botfly larvae. You were right Jake! Thanks for the link Maria, I remember your botfly spot now, I was the first to favorite it. Marinus I think you're right. I was doing some research. The subfamily Cuterebrinae includes Dermatobia and Cuterebra. Dermatobia is the genera that attacks primates and humans and Cuterebra usually attacks small rodents and similar animals. I'm so glad this mystery is solved. Thanks for everyone's efforts and comments.
Here is what an adult botfly looks like. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/108...
I was thinking it was a parasite!
I know I learned a lot today. That is kind of scary it's in my car. What am I watching out for, a little fly? I'm still wondering how the mouse ended up in my car?
At least we learned something today. Remember, it parasitizes including humans! Beware Dan. Its in your car!. Scary.
This is so interesting, I googled Cuterebra and what I found looks just like that. I will keep the grub and try to find the mouse again. I took some pics of it, will upload later.
If you can't find the mouse, preserve the grub if its dead. It will be a good sample specimen.
Could it be the same parasite on both animals? I will upload a pic of what I found.
I found one. The other one is more infested than this. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/682...
Yes, Jolly, I saw that, think it was a spotting of Jonathan Sequiera's. I will check out the Cuterebra, thanks Shane and Marinus.
I just remembered a spotting of a monkey somewhere in central america with something like beehive on its neck. Could be the same as this.
You're right Jolly! I just searched my car. I found a large black grub looking thing under the front seat. It might be dead though from the heat in there. I'm looking for the mouse, it's in the trees beside my house, but kind of hard to find.
Take a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Easter...