{{Short description|Species of fly}} {{Speciesbox | image = D. hominis adult female.png | image_caption = Adult female human botfly | taxon = Dermatobia hominis | authority = (Linnaeus Jr. in Pallas, 1781) | display_parents = 2 | synonyms = ''Oestrus hominis''<small> (Linnaeus Jr. in Pallas, 1781)</small> }} The '''human botfly''', '''''Dermatobia hominis''''' (Greek δέρμα, skin + βίος, life, and Latin ''hominis'', of a human), is a species of botfly whose larvae parasitise humans (in addition to a wide range of other animals, including other primates<ref name=USACHPPM>{{cite web |url=https://phc.amedd.army.mil/PHC%20Resource%20Library/HumanBotFlyMyiasis_FS_18-052-0618.pdf#search=dermatobia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719063501/https://phc.amedd.army.mil/PHC%20Resource%20Library/HumanBotFlyMyiasis_FS_18-052-0618.pdf#search=dermatobia |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 19, 2020 |title=Human Bot Fly Myiasis |access-date=2014-08-14 |publisher=U.S. Army Public Health Command (provisional), formerly U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine|date=January 2010}}</ref>). It is also known as the '''torsalo''' or '''American warble fly''',<ref name=USACHPPM /> though the warble fly is in the genus ''Hypoderma'' and not ''Dermatobia'', and is a parasite on cattle and deer instead of humans.
''Dermatobia'' fly eggs have been shown to be vectored by over 40 species of mosquitoes and muscoid flies, as well as one species of tick<ref>{{cite book |first=Ross |last=Piper |chapter=Human Botfly |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqegRf2UstIC&pg=PA192 |title=Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |location=Westport, Connecticut |year=2007 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/extraordinaryani0000pipe/page/192 192–194] |isbn=978-0-313-33922-6 |oclc=191846476 |access-date=2009-02-13 |url=https://archive.org/details/extraordinaryani0000pipe/page/192 }}</ref> (however, the source for this is somewhat old — 2007 — and slightly more recent literature seems to indicate they don't need a particular species of tick, or at least makes no mention of them only being able to use one as a vector<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephanie K. Hill |last=C. Roxanne Connelly |chapter=human bot fly - ''Dermatobia hominis'' |chapter-url=https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/flies/human_bot_fly.htm |title=University Of Florida |publisher=University of Florida |location=Gainesville , Florida |year=2008|access-date=2024-10-23 |url=https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/flies/human_bot_fly.htm }}</ref>). The female captures the mosquito and attaches its eggs to its body, then releases it. Either the eggs hatch while the mosquito is feeding and the larvae use the mosquito bite area as the entry point, or the eggs simply drop off the muscoid fly when it lands on the skin. The larvae develop inside the subcutaneous layers, and after about eight weeks, they drop out to pupate for at least a week, typically in the soil. The adults are large flies lacking mouthparts (as is true of other oestrid flies).
This species is native to the Americas from southeastern Mexico (beginning in central Veracruz) to northern Argentina, and Uruguay,<ref name=USACHPPM/> though it is not abundant enough (nor harmful enough) to ever attain true pest status. Normally the greatest risk they pose to humans is increasing the chances of infection. Since the fly larvae can survive the entire eight-week development only if the wound does ''not'' become infected, patients rarely experience infections unless they kill the larva without removing it completely.
[[File:D. hominis larva.png|thumb|Extracted human botfly larva: The arrow points to the larva's mouthparts.]]
==Remedies== The easiest and most effective way to remove botfly larvae is to apply petroleum jelly over the location, which prevents air from reaching the larva, suffocating it. It can then be removed with tweezers safely after a day.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}
Venom extractor syringes can remove larvae with ease at any stage of growth.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Boggild|first=Andrea K.|last2=Keystone|first2=Jay S.|last3=Kain|first3=Kevin C.|date=August 2002|title=Furuncular myiasis: a simple and rapid method for extraction of intact ''Dermatobia hominis''|journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases|volume=35|issue=3|pages=336–338|doi=10.1086/341493|pmid=12115102|doi-access=}}</ref> A larva has also been successfully removed by first applying several coats of nail polish to the area of the larva's entrance, weakening it by partial asphyxiation.<ref name="bhandari">{{cite journal|last=Bhandari|first=Ramanath|last2=Janos|first2=David P.|last3=Sinnis|first3=Photini|date=March 2007|title=Furuncular myiasis caused by ''Dermatobia hominis'' in a returning traveler|journal=The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene|volume=76|issue=3|pages=598–9|doi=10.4269/ajtmh.2007.76.598|pmc=1853312|pmid=17360891}}</ref> Covering the location with adhesive tape would also result in partial asphyxiation and weakening of the larva, but is not recommended because the larva's breathing tube is fragile and would be broken during the removal of the tape, leaving most of the larva behind.<ref name=bhandari/>
Oral use of ivermectin, an antiparasitic avermectin medicine, has proven to be an effective and noninvasive treatment that leads to the spontaneous emigration of the larva.<ref name="wakamatsu">{{cite journal|last=Wakamatsu|first=Tais Hitomi|last2=Pierre-Filho|first2=P. T. P.|date=October 2005|title=Ophthalmomyiasis externa caused by ''Dermatobia hominis'': a successful treatment with oral ivermectin|journal=Eye|volume=20|issue=9|pages=1088–90|doi=10.1038/sj.eye.6702120|pmid=16244643|doi-access=free}}</ref> This is especially important for cases where the larva is located in inaccessible places such as inside the inner canthus of the eye.
thumb|Map of human botfly region
==See also== *Botfly *''Cochliomyia hominivorax'' *''Cordylobia anthropophaga'' *Human parasite *List of parasites of humans *Myiasis
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/0401/p1262.html Case Report: Insect Bite Reveals Botfly Myiasis in an Older Woman] *[http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/flies/human_bot_fly.htm human bot fly] on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site *{{cite journal|last=Sampson|first=Christian E.|last2=Maguire|first2=James|last3=Eriksson|first3=Elof|title=Botfly Myiasis: Case Report and Brief Review|journal=Annals of Plastic Surgery|volume=46|issue=2|pages=150–2|date=February 2001|pmid=11216610|doi=10.1097/00000637-200102000-00011}} *{{cite journal|last=Schwartz|first=Eli|last2=Gur|first2=Hanan|title=''Dermatobia hominis'' myiasis: an emerging disease among travelers to the Amazon basin of Bolivia|journal=Journal of Travel Medicine|volume=9|issue=2|pages=97–9|date=March 2002|pmid=12044278|doi=10.2310/7060.2002.21503|doi-access=free}}<!--|access-date=2008-10-09--> *{{cite journal|vauthors=Passos MR, Barreto NA, Varella RQ, Rodrigues GH, Lewis DA|title=Penile myiasis: a case report|journal=Sexually Transmitted Infections|volume=80|issue=3|pages=183–4|date=June 2004|pmid=15169999|pmc=1744837|doi=10.1136/sti.2003.008235|url=}} *{{cite journal |vauthors=Denion E, Dalens PH, Couppié P |title=External ophthalmomyiasis caused by ''Dermatobia hominis''. A retrospective study of nine cases and a review of the literature |journal=Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica |volume=82 |issue=5 |pages=576–84 |date=October 2004 |pmid=15453857 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0420.2004.00315.x |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118808679/HTMLSTART |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121216132702/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118808679/HTMLSTART |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-12-16 |access-date=2008-10-09|display-authors=etal|url-access=subscription}} *{{cite journal|vauthors=Larrick SK, Rutledge-Connelly CR|title=Human Botfly - ''Dermatobia hominis''|journal=EDIS|volume=2008|issue=7|doi=10.32473/edis-in775-2008|url = https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN775|doi-access=free}}
{{Arthropod infestations}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q941965}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Insects of South America Category:Insects of Colombia Category:Oestridae Category:Parasitic flies Category:Parasitic arthropods of humans Category:Parasites of primates Category:Parasitic arthropods of mammals Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus the Younger Category:Insects described in 1781