Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Articles
Published: 2012-08-29
Page range: 65–68
Abstract views: 48
PDF downloaded: 2

An overlooked earlier name for the bird blow fly genus Protocalliphora Hough (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

J. Linsley Gressitt Center for Research in Entomology, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96817, USA
Diptera Calliphoridae

Abstract

Protocalliphora, a genus-group name of calliphorid flies proposed by Hough (1899) is a well-known blood-feeding obligate parasite of a number of species of birds throughout the Nearctic and Palaearctic Regions where the larvae attack young birds in their nests sometimes causing death. An excellent comprehensive work on the taxonomy and biologies of the species of the genus was published by Sabrosky et al. (1989). Their work treated 26 species in the genus and gave records of more than 140 species of birds recorded as hosts.

References

  1. Bańbura, J., Perret, P., Blondel, J., Thomas, D.W., Cartan-Son, M. & Lambrechts, M.M. (2004) Effects of Protocalliphora parasites on nestling food composition in Corsican blue tits Parus caeruleus: consequences for nestling performance. Acta Ornithologica, 39(2), 93–103.

    Bedard, J. & McNeil, J.N. (1997) Protocalliphora hirudo (Diptera: Calliphoridae) infesting savannah sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis (Aves: Fringillidae), in eastern Quebec. The Canadian Entomologist, 111(1), 111–112.

    Bennett, G.F. & Whitworth, T.L. (1991) Studies on the life history of some species of Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 69(8), 2048–2058.

    Bennett, G.F. & Whitworth, T.L. (1992) Host, nest, and ecological relationships of species of Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 70(1), 51–61.

    Bortolotti, G.R. (1985) Frequency of Protocalliphora avium (Diptera: Calliphoridae) infestations on bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 63(1), 165–168.

    Daoust, S.J., Savage, J., Whitworth, T.L., Bélisle, M. & Brodeur, J. (2012) Diversity and abundance of ectoparasitic blow flies Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and their Nasonia (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) parasitoids in tree swallow nests within agricultural lands of southern Québec, Canada. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 105(3), 471–478.

    Dawson, R.D., Hillen, K.K. & Whitworth, T.L. (2005) Effects of experimental variation in temperature on larval densities of parasitic Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in nests of tree swallows (Passeriformes: Hirundinidae). Environmental Entomology, 34(3), 563–568.

    Eastman, M.D., Johnson, L.S. & Kermott, L.H. (1989) Ectoparasitism of nestling house wrens, Troglodytes aedon, by larvae of the blow fly Protocalliphora braueri (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 67(10), 2358–2362.

    Fair, J.M. & Miller, C.K. (1995) The parasitic blow fly, Protocalliphora spatulata, in two new host species. The Wilson Bulletin, 107(1), 179–181.

    Gentes, M.-L., Whitworth, T.L., Waldner, C., Fenton, H. & Smits, J.E. (2007) Tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nesting on wetlands impacted by oil sands mining are highly parasitized by the bird blow fly Protocalliphora spp. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 43(2), 167–178.

    Gold, C.S. & Dahlston, D.L. (1983) Effects of parasitic flies (Protocalliphora spp.) on nestlings of mountain and chestnut-backed chickadees. The Wilson Bulletin, 95(4), 560–572.

    Hall, D.G. (1965) Family Calliphoridae, pp. 922–933. In: Stone, A., Sabrosky, C.W., Wirth, W.W., Foote, R.H. & Coulson, J.R. (eds.), A catalog of the Diptera of the Americas north of Mexico. United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook, 276, iv + 1696 pp.

    Hori, K., Iwasa, M. & Ogawa, R. (1990) Biology of two species of the Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in Tokachi, Hokkaido, Japan: feeding behaviour of larvae, larval and pupal durations, voltinism and host specificity. Applied Entomology and Zoology, 25(4), 475–482.

    Howe, F.P. (1992) Effects of Protocalliphora braueri (Diptera: Calliphoridae) parasitism and inclement weather on nestling sage thrashers. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 28(1), 141–143.

    International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (I.C.Z.N.) (1990) Opinion 1618. Protocalliphora Hough, 1899 (Insecta, Diptera) and its type species Musca azurea Fallén, 1817: usage conserved by the designation of a replacement lectotype. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 47(3), 235–236.

    International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (I.C.Z.N.) (1999) International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Fourth Edition. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London. xxix + 306 pp.

    Iwasa, M. & Hori, K. (1990) The calliphorid larvae parasitic on birds in Japan (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 4(2), 141–146.

    Little, S.E. (2008) Myiasis in wild birds, pp. 546–556. In: Atkinson, C.T., Thomas, N.J. & Hunter, D.B. (eds.), Parasitic diseases of wild birds. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Ames, Iowa. 595 pp.

    Poole, R.W. (1996) Diptera, pp. 15–604. In: Poole, R.W. & Gentili, P. (eds.), Nomina Insecta Nearctica. A checklist of the insects of North America. Volume 3: Diptera, Lepidoptera, Siphonaptera. Entomological Information Services, Rockville, Maryland. 1143 pp.

    Puchala, P. (2004) Detrimental effects of larval blow flies (Protocalliphora azurea) on nestlings and breeding success of tree sparrows (Passer montanus). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 82(8), 1285–1290.

    Remeš, V. & Krist, M. (2005) Nest design and the abundance of parasitic Protocalliphora blow flies in two hole-nesting passerines. Ecoscience, 12(4), 549–553.

    Sabrosky, C.W. (1956) The nomenclature of Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London. Series B, Taxonomy, 256(9–10), 175–179.

    Sabrosky, C.W., Bennett, G.F. & Whitworth, T.L. (1989) Bird blow flies (Protocalliphora) in North America (Diptera: Calliphoridae), with notes on the Palaearctic species. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 312 pp.

    Schumann, H. (1986) Family Calliphoridae, pp. 11–58. In: Soós, Á. & Papp, L. (eds.), Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera. Volume 12. Calliphoridae—Sarcophagidae. Elsevier, Amsterdam & Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. 265 pp.

    Simon, A., Thomas, D., Blondel, J., Perret, P. & Lambrechts, M.M. (2004) Physiological ecology of Mediterranean blue tits (Parus caeruleus L.): effects of ectoparasites (Protocalliphora spp.) and food abundance on metabolic capacity of nestlings. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 77(3), 492–501.

    Walsh, B.D. (1866a) [Answers to correspondents.] Rev. Jas. B. Fisher, N.Y. The Practical Entomologist, 1(9), 102.

    Walsh, B.D. (1866b) [Answers to correspondents.] Rev. Jas. B. Fisher, N.Y. The Practical Entomologist, 2(1), 8.

    Warren, Y. (1994) Protocalliphora braueri (Diptera: Calliphoridae) induced pathogenesis in a brood of marsh wren (Cistothorus palustris) Young. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 30(1), 107–109.

    Wesołowski, T. (2001) Host-parasite interactions in natural holes: marsh tits (Parus palustris) and blow flies (Protocalliphora falcozi). Journal of Zoology, 255(4), 495–503.

    Whitworth, T.L. (2003) A key to the puparia of 27 species of North American Protocalliphora Hough (Diptera: Calliphoridae) from bird nests and two new puparial descriptions. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 105(4), 995–1033.

    Whitworth, T.L. & Bennett, G.F. (1992) Pathogenicity of larval Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae) parasitizing nestling birds. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 70(11), 2184–2191.

    Whitworth, T.L., Dawson, R.D., Magalon, H. & Baudry, E. (2007) DNA barcoding cannot reliably identify species of the blowfly genus Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Proceedings of the Royal Society, B, Biological Sciences, 274(1619), 1731–1739.

    Wittman, K. & Beason, R.C. (1992) The effect of blowfly parasitism on nestling eastern bluebird development. Journal of Field Ornithology, 63(3), 286–293.