North American Deer Mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, Consuming a Parasitizing Botfly Larva, Diptera: Cuterebridae

Abstract

During a laboratory study in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, I videotaped a female North American Deer Mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus gracilis, consuming a botfly larva, Family Cuterebridae, that had just emerged from her chest. Although botfly parasitism has been widely studied in several species of small mammals, there are no prior reports of the host consuming the emerged botfly parasite.