Migratory kinetics of Cuterebra fontinella (Diptera: cuterebridae) in the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus.

Larvae of the rodent botfly, Cuterebra fontinella, follow a consistent migration route thorough their natural host, the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus. Larvae that enter the eye or nares spend about 48 hr in the nasal cavity and then follow a caudally oriented path that leads through the nasal passage, trachea, thoracic and abdominal cavities, and ends in the subcutaneous tissues of the posteroventral abdominal region. Larvae that enter mice through the anus or by injection into the subcutaneous tissues of the back begin their migration from the trachea and from that point follow the usual path to the terminus.