Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
The Neotropical deer ked is a common ectoparasite of the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the southeastern United States. The louse flies (Hippoboscidae) are obligate blood-feeding ectoparasites of birds and mammals. Both adult males and females feed on the blood of their host. They are adapted for clinging to and moving through the plumage and pelage of their hosts. Strongly specialized claws help them cling to the hair or feathers of their particular host species. Deer keds have wings when they emerge from their puparium, but lose their wings once they find a host (deer). This document is ENY-686, one of a series of the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First printed September 2003.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in484
References
Bequaert, J. 1942. A monograph of the Melophaginae, or ked-flies, of sheep, goats, deer and antelopes (Diptera, Hippoboscidae). Entomologica Americana 22(2): 65-220.
Davidson, W. R. and V. F. Nettles. 1997. Field manual of wildlife diseases in the Southeastern United States. Second edition. Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA. 417 pp.
Forrester, D. J. 1992. Parasites and diseases of wild mammals in Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL. 460 pp.
Kocan, A. A. 2003. Parasitic and infectious diseases of white-tailed deer in Oklahoma. http://www.cvm.okstate.edu/instruction/kocan/vpar5333/deerpar.htm.
Maa, T. C. 1965. A synopsis of the Lipopteninae. J. Med. Entomol. 2 (3): 233-248. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/2.3.233
Strickland, R.K., R.R. Gerrish, and J. S. Smith. 1981. Chapter 24. Arthropods. In Diseases and parasites of white-tailed deer. Edited by Davidson, W. R. et al. Misc. Publication No. 7 of the Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL. P. 376-377.
Theodor, O. 1975. Diptera pupipara; Fauna Palaestina-Insecta I. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, Israel. 170 pp.
Wenzel, R. L. and V. J. Tipton. 1966. Ectoparasites of Panama. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL. p. 390.
Photos by Ms. Karen Wheeler / UF-Ft. Lauderdale R.E.C.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.