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ABSTRACT: A louse fly (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), Olfersia sordida Bigot, was collected in a dry ice-baited light trap on Key Largo, Florida.
KEY WORDS: Diptera, Hippoboscidae, ectoparasite, mosquito trap. Key Largo
The Hippoboscidae, or louse flies (Diptera) are a small family, with 19 genera and 150 extant species worldwide. Most species are parasites of birds but some use mammalian hosts (Maa and Peterson, 1981). Collection of louse flies can be difficult and frustrating, which probably accounts for the lack of records and specimens in many collections (Couch et al., 1961). For example, Conti and Forrester (1981) reported that they observed many more louse flies than they were able to collect during their parasitological survey of doves in Florida.
During routine mosquito surveillance via dry ice-baited American Biophysics Company light traps, a hippoboscid fly was collected at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center on Key Largo, Florida, on 2 August 2011. The vegetation is typical of the upper Florida Keys, including buttonwood, black mangrove, and hardwood hammock species. The fly was identified to genus with the keys provided by Maa and Peterson (1981) and to species by the keys and illustrations of Bequaert (1956 [1957]). The distinctive wing venation and abdominal sclerites were identical to those ?? Olfersia sordida (Bigot). This fly is known from several Caribbean Islands,...