- The bot fly (botfly)
presents annual difficulties as it lays eggs on the
insides of horse’s front legs, on the cannon bone
and knees, and sometimes on the throat or nose,
depending on what type of bot fly does the laying.
These eggs, which look like small, yellow drops of
paint, must be carefully removed during the laying
season (late summer and early fall) to prevent
infestation in the horse. When a horse rubs its nose
on its legs, the eggs are transferred to the mouth,
and from there to the intestines, where the larva
grows and migrates to the skin. When ready to
emerge, a thumbnail-sized lump will appear on the
horse, which is not painful, but if the lump happens
to be where the saddle or bridle go, the horse will
be out of commission until the wound made by the
young bot fly’s emergence heals. Additionally,
migrating larva may cause mouth sores, ulcers in the
stomach, and blockage of the pyloric valve which
could lead to colic. Removal of the eggs (which
adhere to the host’s hair) is tricky, since the bone
and tendons are directly under the skin on the
cannon bones: eggs must be removed with a sharp (bot)
knife (often a razor blade) or rough sand paper, and
caught before they reach the ground. During this
process the human can also become infected. Bots can
be controlled with several types of wormers.
(Source - Wikipedia)
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