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Protocalliphora

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EntityQ3408050· pop 9· linked from 12 articles

Protocalliphora

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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.

Species

Bird Blowfly

GENUS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumArthropoda
  3. ClassInsecta
  4. OrderDiptera
  5. FamilyCalliphoridae
Observations362

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
103
With media
16
Family
Calliphoridae
Collections
UHIM, UAM, UMNH, USNM, MCGILL UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH, CENTRE FOR BIODIVERSITY GENOMICS
Recorded in
United States, Canada

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Parent taxon
Calliphoridae
Image
Protocalliphora.azurea2.-.lindsey.jpg
Show 5 more facts
taxon name
Protocalliphora
taxon rank
genus
topic's main category
Category:Protocalliphora
Commons category
Protocalliphora
diel cycle
diurnality
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~1 min read

Encyclopedic overview

2 sections
Contents
  • References
  • External links

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 bacteria and it has been suggested that horizontal gene transfer may have led to the difficulty in separating species of Protocalliphora through DNA barcoding, with several species possessing identical mtDNA Cytochrome oxidase I sequences.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Protocalliphora” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)

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