| Protocalliphora | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Protocalliphora or Bird blowflies are a blow fly genus containing many species which are obligate parasites of birds.[1] The larvae suck the blood of nestlings and are found in the nests of birds. The genus is affected by Wolbachia bacteria and it has been suggested that horizontal gene transfer may have led to the difficulty in separating species of Protocalliphora through DNA fingerprinting, with several species possessing identical mtDNA Cytochrome oxidase I sequences.[2]
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".[3]
References
- ^ Sabrosky, C. W., Bennett G. F., Whitworth T. L. 1989. Bird blow-flies (Protocalliphora) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in North America with notes on the Palearctic species. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.
- ^ T.L. Whitworth, R.D. Dawson, H. Magalon, E. Baudry 2007. DNA barcoding cannot reliably identify species of the blowfly genus Protocalliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274(1619):1731-1739 [1]
- ^ H. Elliott McClure (1962) Ten Years and 10,000 Birds (Concluded). Bird-Banding 33(2):69-84
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