Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Suddenly, I Find Two Things Are Connected...

On July 3 I posted a picture of an unusual bee. Or so I thought. I submitted it to the Univ. of Illinois to identification (I had more pictures than the one here) and they identified it as a "Bee Mimic". It is actually a fly.

On July 7 I found a young dead rabbit in my yard. We have had a couple over the last few years, and two this year. We have been wondering if someone in the neighborhood has been poisoning them.

Now I find out that the fly that was identified is a Cuterebra Abdominalis. Which is a parasite of the Eastern Cottontail Rabbit. Young rabbits that get a large number of the Cuterebra Abdominalis larvae, which lodge in the throat, can be fatal to them.

I think I have a serious parasitic life cycle going on under my deck.

Serious Thanks to the folks at Bee Spotter.

1 comment:

  1. Bot Flys or sometimes called Warbles. Actually there are a couple of parasites refered to as warbles but this is one of them for sure. I thought that thing looked famliar.

    Warbles are a great part of why most people won't hunt rabbits until after the first good freeze. Rabbits will lay on the frozen ground with the belly against it to freeze out the warbles. Or so legend has it.

    Your carnivourous hunting friend. -Therron

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