The World Oestridae (Diptera), Mammals and Continental Drift

The taxonomic delimitation of the Superfamily Oestroidea is ex tremely difficult and most authors disagree as to the limits of the group (see HORI, 1967, for a historical survey of Calyptratae classification). ROBACK (1951) included in Oestroidea the families Oestridae (with Hypodermatidae as subfamily), Cuterebridae and Tachinidae. STONE et al. (1965) included the Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, Tachinidae, Cuterebridae and Oestridae (with Hypodermatidae as a subfamily). ZUMPT (1957) divided the Oestroidea into: (i) Oestridae, with sub families Cephenemyiinae, Oestrinae and Hypodermatinae; (ii) Gasterophilidae (with subfamilies Gasterophilinae, Gyrostigminae and Cobboldiinae); and (iii) Calliphoridae, including, among others, the subfamily Cuterebrinae. I am considering as Oestroidea, for practical purposes, only two groups: 1. The Cavicolae (Fam. Oestridae) -larviparous Dies; the 1st stage larvae are deposited by the females directly into the nasal cavities of the mammal hosts; the larvae complete their development in several internal cavities. 2. The Cuticolae (Fams. Hypodermatidae, Rutteniidae and Cutere bridae) -oviparous Dies; the egg is laid near the lairs of the host, on an intermediary vector, mainly haematophagous Dies (in the unique case of Dermatobia hominis), or directly on the host's skin, the egg being then adapted to adhere to the hairs; the 1st stage larva penetrates through the skin of the host, completing its development subcutaneously.

Inhalt
A. History, Folklore, Biology.- I. History of knowledge about Oestroidea.- II. Popular knowledge about the Oestroidea.- III. Biology of the OestroideaThe phenomenon of aggregation.- IV. References.- B. Systematics and phylogeny of the Oestridae.- I. Key to subfamilies.- II. Subfamily Cephenemyiinae Townsend.- III. Subfamily Tracheomyiinae, new.- IV. Subfamily Pharyngobolinae, new.- V. Subfamily Oestrinae Leach.- VI. Phylogeny of the Oestridae.- VII. Bibliography of Oestridae.- C. Characteristics of the hosts of Oestridae.- I. List of present hosts.- II. General considerations about the hosts.- III. References.- D. Hypothetical history of Oestridae evolution.- I. Origin and diversification of the family.- II. The problem of the present absence of Oestridae in South America.- III. The problem of the presence of Oestridae in Australia.- IV. Evolution in Africa.- V. Evolution in Eurasia and North America.- VI. References.- Abstract.