Musca xanthomelas
Species of fly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Musca xanthomelas is a species of fly belonging to the taxonomic tribe Muscini. It is widespread across Africa[1] from the eastern to southern regions.[2] It feeds on dung, especially from cattle and a variety of other sources such as tears from wildebeest.
| Musca xanthomelas | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Muscidae |
| Genus: | Musca |
| Species: | M. xanthomelas |
| Binomial name | |
| Musca xanthomelas Wiedemann, 1824 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Female members of this species at intervals of about 5 days can lay up to 4 batches of eggs with as many as 33 eggs per batch. A single female can produce a maximum of 94 eggs.[3]
Epidemiology
They are able to get infected from Alcelaphinae herpes virus 1 (AHV-1) from infected wildebeest. The virus however are not able to be transferred to cattle of rabbits. This lack of transmission may be due to their reluctance to feed on their tears after having a protein rich meal from the wildebeest.[4]