Bot Fly Eggs???

As I was grooming some horses yesterday, I noticed little yellowish specs stuck to the horses' hairs, mostly on the hindlimbs and barrel. Did I say stuck? More liked glued. And a few were epoxy'd. I was told that these were Bot Fly Eggs. I was handed a grooming block (rectangular piece of pumice stone) and a Bot knife (fairly sharp and serrated outer curved edge).

Each tool worked about the same. Some areas it was easy and other areas it was tedious to remove the eggs. I would own both tools.

And then there was this bee that was bothering the horses. I shooed it away as carefully as I could.

This post is stuck here because I had to look up Bot Fly to find out about them since I had become exposed to them. So what I did was Google Image Search for bot fly and found the following in just the first few sites….

Three types of this internal parasite affect horses, mules, and donkeys.

• Common - Because it is easiest to find.
• Throat - Yes, that is where they are.
• Nose - You guessed it.

Eggs are attached to the hair. (Again, some were epoxy'd) Larvae live in the gut and when ready leave the horse to the ground. Pupae turn into adults from the ground. Adults are about the same size as bees and are hairy bodied. (I just thought I saw a bee.)

They don't bite. (That's good news but the horses sure knew that they didn't like him being around.) And they don't eat. The flies are active in the warm weather months until the first frost. Only one generation life cycle per year. All lay eggs directly to hair. Site of egg laying differs as well as sites of internal infestation.

Common bot eggs are found along the forelegs and flanks. The horse rubs its muzzle and tongue over the area which cause the larvae to emerge from the eggs. The larvae are picked up on the tongue where they invade the mucous membrane.

Throat bot eggs are found under the jaw or throat area. Larva hatch within three to five days and crawl along the jaw to enter the mouth and penetrate the gumline.

Nose bot eggs are found on the very fine hairs around the lips, particularly the upper lip close to the mouth. The eggs hatch in as little as two days and penetrate the lip and tongue membranes.

The flies can make the horse unruly and difficult to manage. Mild, moderate, or severe symptoms can appear from internal infestation. Ulcer perforation and death can be an extreme case.

You must break the insect's life cycle and stop its development. More on medications, deworming, and veterinarians later.