Elk fly - importunate parasite
At the end of summer in the forests of Siberia and central partRussia appears annoying elk fly (photo of an insect is presented in this article). In addition to the territory of our country, it still lives in the north of China, in North America and Scandinavia. The number of parasites directly depends on the number of deer and moose.
Elk fly, elk mite, elk louse, deerthe bloodsucker is all one and the same insect belonging to the family Hippoboscidae. The three-millimeter body has a flattened shape and is covered with light-brown leathery tight covers. On the head in deep depressions there are antennae, which practically do not protrude above the surface. Elk fly has large eyes, consisting of more than 2,5 thousand facets. Her eyes occupy ¼ of the whole body, except for them on the head of the flies there are 3 simple eyes. The oral apparatus of this insect belongs to the piercing-sucking type and has a similar structure with the proboscis of a fly, which is called the autumn ligature. Deer bloodsuckers have dense and transparent wings with a small number of veins, their length is from 5.5 to 6 mm. On the sides of the chest are strong legs with thickened hips and asymmetrical claws. The elk fly is equipped with an elastic abdomen which, when eaten, can greatly increase in size.
This type of insect belongs to round-lobedectoparasites. In other words, the elk fly eats only with the blood that it produces from warm-blooded animals. Cloven-hoofed animals are its main owners-breadwinners. These are roe deer, deer, maral and moose. In addition, the bloodsucker fly successfully uses domesticated cattle, wild boars, bears, foxes, dogs, badgers, sheep and so on. If there is a high number of this parasite, then the bite of a moose fly threatens a man, and he, it should be noted, is quite painful. At the site of the bite, the skin turns red, a tight knot appears, which can last up to 20 days.
Why is it called moose louse or mite? Despite the presence of well-developed wings, these insects fly quite badly and for short distances. Wings, in fact, are needed to fly to the smell of a warm-blooded animal. And as soon as they reach their goal, they are immediately dropped. All their further life is already taking place on the body of the master-breadwinner. They bury themselves in his hair, bite the skin and begin to feed on blood. Hence a comparison with the usual lice and mite.
A couple of weeks of serene life at the bloodsuckercomes puberty, they begin to stay in pairs: the female with the male. After fertilization, after 16 days, the female gives birth to the first larva. Notice, it gives birth, because this type of insect refers to viviparous, or rather - kuklodorjashchim. The female in the body first develops an egg, then a larva. The light already appears three-millimeter formed pre-pups. In a few hours they turn into a false-cock (pupary), they are covered with a hard shell and fall to the ground. Usually this occurs from October to March. In this condition, the pupae will remain until August, and then new winged elk flys appear. The female for her life (about six months) has time to postpone up to 30 such puparium.
Animals, these parasites bring a largeanxiety, since on one individual they can settle in hundreds. And this leads to the exhaustion of the animal, the growth in the young can occur. Unfortunately, effective repellents against this insect have not been found. To protect yourself from his bites, you need to take care of your clothes when you go to the forest. Cuffs on the sleeves should fit tightly to the body, pants should be better placed in the socks, and on the head must be a headdress. After a walk carefully examine your clothes and remove the hiding pests.
