Horn Fly, Haematobia irritans irritans (L.), Overwintering

The horn fly, Haematobia irritans irritans (L.), is an ectoparasitic blood feeder mainly on cattle. Its cosmopolitan distribution extends from boreal and grassland regions in northern and southern latitudes to the tropics. Stress and blood loss from horn flies can reduce cattle weight gain and milk production. Horn flies show substantial plasticity in their response to winter. Populations in warmer, lower latitudes have been reported to overwinter in a state of dormancy, but most overwinter as active adults in normal or reduced numbers. As latitudes increase, winters are generally colder, and correspondingly, larger percentages of horn fly populations become dormant as pharate adults (a post-pupal, pre-emergent stage) or die. Reports on the effect of elevation on horn fly dormancy at high elevations were contradictory. When it occurs, dormancy takes place beneath cattle dung pats and in the underlying soil. The horn fly's mode of dormancy is commonly called diapause, but the collective research on horn fly diapause (behavioral and biochemical) is not conclusive. Understanding the horn fly's overwintering behaviors can lead to development of pre-dormancy insecticide spray strategies in colder latitudes while other strategies must be determined for warmer regions.