Botfly

Botfly
Deer botfly (Cephenemyia stimulator)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Clade: Eremoneura
(unranked): Cyclorrhapha
Section: Schizophora
Subsection: Calyptratae
Superfamily: Oestroidea
Family:
Leach, 1815
Subfamilies
  • Cuterebrinae
  • Gasterophilinae
  • Hypodermatinae
  • Oestrinae

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 the only species of botfly known to parasitize humans routinely, though other species of flies cause myiasis in humans.