''Haematobia exigua'', known as buffalo fly, is a fly of the family

Muscidae Muscidae are a family of flies found in the superfamily Muscoidea. Muscidae, some of which are commonly known as house flies or stable flies due to their synanthropy, are worldwide in distribution and contain almost 4,000 described species i ...

. The species was first described from

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and occurs across mainland and island South-east Asia. The species is introduced to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

where it has a wide distribution, inhabiting tropical areas of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It is widely considered a pest, and continues to cause much damage to

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

; as they are of the genus Haematobia, buffalo flies must feed off the blood of mammals to survive, cutting through the skin with two separate mouthparts. In 1928-1930, Australian

entomologists Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

Ian Murray Mackerras and Mabel Josephine Mackerras did substantial research into buffalo fly, increasing knowledge into methods of their control. Josephine Mackerras' research on blowfly infestation led to many papers being published, both alone and in collaboration with her husband and scientific partner Murray Mackerras.

References

buffalo fly
CSIRO Muscidae Insects of Australia Insects described in 1906 Taxa named by Johannes C. H. de Meijere Diptera of Australasia {{Muscidae-stub