The role of taxonomy in the control of flies pestering grazing cattle and sheep in Hungary.

A reliable and stable taxonomic basis is necessary for improvements in the control of secretophagous and blood-sucking flies visiting pastured cattle because the number of these dipterous species is very high; the community differs from area to area; and a better knowledge of the biology of the species can aid the development of more effective control measures. The actual size and density of populations cannot be estimated accurately on the basis of individual flies caught from or counted on cattle or in their environs. The true densities can only be determined by rearing the flies. It would appear that no single control method can be effective against all species because of the major differences in biology between them. In this taxonomy can help. Thirty-one species of Diptera, several of veterinary importance, have been reared from sheep droppings. Sheep droppings have no autochthonous community and all species reared also occur in cattle droppings, although in different proportions.