''Cobboldia'' is a genus of

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...

flies in the family

Oestridae Botflies, also known as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies, are flies of the family Oestridae. Their larvae are internal parasites of mammals, some species growing in the host's flesh and others within the gut. ''Dermatobia hominis'' is t ...

. Adult flies of '' Cobboldia elephantis'' lay their eggs near the mouth or base of the tusks of

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

while the related ''

Cobboldia loxodontis ''Cobboldia'' is a genus of parasitic flies in the family Oestridae. Adult flies of '' Cobboldia elephantis'' lay their eggs near the mouth or base of the tusks of Asian elephant while the related '' Cobboldia loxodontis'' (=''Platycobboldia loxod ...

'' (=''Platycobboldia loxodontis'') parasitizes

African elephant African elephants are members of the genus ''Loxodonta'' comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant (''L. africana'') and the smaller African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''). Both are social herbivores with grey skin. ...

s. The larvae hatch and develop in the mouth cavity and later move to the stomach. On maturing, the third instar larvae exit from the mouth and drop to the ground to pupate. Cobboldia_elephant_stomach

A fossil species '' Cobboldia russanovi'' is known from the frozen remains of

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...

s. ''Cobboldia roverei'' Gedoelst, 1915 (=''Rodhainommia roverei'', the green elephant stomach bot fly) has been noted from the African Forest Elephant. The genus is named after

Thomas Spencer Cobbold Thomas Spencer Cobbold Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 May 182810 March 1886) was an English biologist. Life He was born at Ipswich, the third son of Rev. Richard Cobbold, author of the ''History of Margaret Catchpole''. After graduating ...

(1828–1886) who described the first species as ''Gastrophilus elephantis''.

Notes

References

*Grunin, K.Y. 1973. The first finding of the stomach bot-fly larvae of the mammoth: ''Cobboldia'' (''Mamontia'', subgen. n.) ''russanovi'', ''sp. nov.'' (Diptera, Gasterophilidae). Entomol. Obozr. 52: 228–33. nglish translation, 1973, Entomol. Rev. 52(1): 165–69.*Pont, A. (1976) The date and author of ''Cobboldia elephantis'' (Diptera: Gasterophilidae). ''Zeitschrschrift fur Angewandte Zoologie'' 63: 23

External links

Life cycle
Oestridae Oestroidea genera Parasitic flies Taxa named by Friedrich Moritz Brauer {{Oestroidea-stub