Cobboldia Explained

Cobboldia is a genus of parasitic flies in the family Oestridae. Adult flies of Cobboldia elephantis lay their eggs near the mouth or base of the tusks of Asian elephant while the related Cobboldia loxodontis (=Platycobboldia loxodontis) parasitizes African elephants. The larvae hatch and develop in the mouth cavity and later move to the stomach. On maturing, the third instar larvae exit from the mouth and drop to the ground to pupate.^[1] A fossil species Cobboldia russanovi is known from the frozen remains of Mammoths. Cobboldia roverei Gedoelst, 1915 (=Rodhainommia roverei, the green elephant stomach bot fly) has been noted from the African Forest Elephant.^{[2] [3]}

The genus is named after Thomas Spencer Cobbold (1828 - 1886) who described the first species as Gastrophilus elephantis.^[4]

References

• Grunin, K.Y. 1973. The first finding of the stomach bot-fly larvae of the mammoth: Cobboldia (Mamontia, subgen. n.) russanovi, sp. nov. (Diptera, Gasterophilidae). Entomol. Obozr. 52: 228–33. [English translation, 1973, Entomol. Rev. 52(1): 165–69.]
• Pont, A. (1976) The date and author of Cobboldia elephantis (Diptera: Gasterophilidae). Zeitschrschrift fur Angewandte Zoologie 63: 23

External links

• Life cycle

Notes and References

1. Book: Murray E. Fowler, Susan K. Mikota (Eds). Elephant biology, medicine, and surgery. Blackwell Publishing. 978-0-8138-0676-1. 2006. 166.
2. Endoparasites of African Forest Elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis) from the Republic of Congo and Central African Republic. John M. Kinsella. Sharon L. Deem. Stephen Blake. Andrea S. Freeman. Comparative Parasitology. 71. 2. 2004. 104–110. PDF. 10.1654/4131.
3. Zumpt, F.. Remarks on the systematic position of myiasis producing flies (Diptera) of the African Elephant, Loxodonta africana (Blumensbach). Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London B. 27. 1-2. 10.1111/j.1365-3113.1958.tb01513.x. 8–14. 1958.
4. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 2. 4. 1882. The Parasites of Elephants. Cobbold, T. Spencer. 223–258.