''Protocalliphora'' or bird blowflies are a blow fly genus containing many species which are obligate parasites of birds. Eggs are laid in bird nests. After hatching, the larvae suck the blood of nestlings. They sometimes feed inside the nostrils of nestling birds and destroy the tissue at the base leading to reduced growth of the upper mandible and the young growing with "shovel-beaks". The species overwinter as adults. The genus is affected by ''

Wolbachia ''Wolbachia'' is a genus of gram-negative bacteria infecting many species of arthropods and filarial nematodes. The symbiotic relationship ranges from parasitism to obligate mutualism. It is one of the most common parasitic microbes of arthrop ...

'' bacteria and it has been suggested that

horizontal gene transfer Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring (reproduction). HGT is an important factor in the e ...

may have led to the difficulty in separating species of ''Protocalliphora'' through

DNA barcoding DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called " sequences"), an indiv ...

, with several species possessing identical

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in ...

Cytochrome oxidase I sequences.

References

External links

* Calliphoridae Parasitic flies Parasites of birds Oestroidea genera {{Calliphoridae-stub