Strange parasite found on frog

[GeckoJosh]

Hey guys,
A few nights ago I found a L.peroni near my house, while taking a quick pic I noticed that it had what looked like a parasitic fly larvae attached to its body.
The larvae was surprising hard to remove as it had what appeared to be small hooks/barbs attaching it to the frog. I also noticed that the frog appeared to be somewhat sedated, not once did it move while I was removing the larvae (which took a few attempts as I was using twigs) and it was still sitting in the same spot some 30 mins later.

Has anyone comes across these before and can they tell me what exactly it is?

Cheers Josh

 

[stimson7]

bot fly larvae, the barbs are there to keep hole open for waste disposal (someone correct me if im wrong?????) was it under the skin when you found it???? i find them on white lips often, usually more than one and thee frogs sit there and let me remove them from the skin with tweezers.

 

[solar 17]

l would be "SUPER KEEN" to hear "Gecko Dan's" opinion and description on this subject "IMO" he's forgotten what most of us know on this subject "with all due respect to the previous posts"
cheers solar 17 (Baden) GR8 pic BTW

 

[GeckoJosh]

Yeah it was completely exposed, only hanging on by these little barbs.
I thought it looked a bit like a Bot Fly but I always thought they had barbs on the side of their body as well?

Oh and thanks Solar17

 

[Nephrurus]

I reckon hit the Australian Museum up about it. THey might have come across it. I've come across these before ages ago in western sydney on a Lioria peroni. Never again though. As far as I can tell, it's not a Batrachomyia, they sit under the skin and are bright yellow.

Minibeast Wildlife - Rainforest Encounters: Amphibian parasites

 

[GeckoJosh]

Thanks for that Neph, it does look like the same sort of species except as you said a different colour and the fact this one was attached externally.
I wish I kept it for examination, I recently purchased a nifty microscope that takes still pictures, it would have been perfect for something like this.

 

[NickGeee]

Not a bot fly... They aren't in Australia

 

[swan91]

Definitely are bot fly's in Australia, not sure about the amphibian specific but i can name three that affect horses (Gasterophilus nasalis, Gasterophilus haemorrhoidalis and asterophilus intestinalis) and Oestrus ovis in sheep. Many of these botflys can infest other hosts and are not all species specific, best not to generalise and make assumptions..

 

[noved]

looks more like a slug of some sort

 

[NickGeee]

Definitely are bot fly's in Australia, not sure about the amphibian specific but i can name three that affect horses (Gasterophilus nasalis, Gasterophilus haemorrhoidalis and asterophilus intestinalis) and Oestrus ovis in sheep. Many of these botflys can infest other hosts and are not all species specific, best not to generalise and make assumptions..

Even human bot flies?

 

[Shotta]

thers no human botflies in australia, it looks like a maggot of a blowfly or something similiar i say maggot because they are external parasites

 

[solar 17]

l have pm-ed Danny Brown (GeckoDan) for some input .....solar 17 (Baden)

 

[swan91]

There are no human specific botflies in Aus, but many horse/sheep etc botflies CAN (rarely) use humans as a host... many times humans feel/hear the botfly and will promptly clean the area and remove the egg etc... the horse botflies lay their eggs on the hair shaft and when horses get enough of them on the hairs they clump together and cause irritation/itching, then the horses will groom their front legs with their teeth/lips and swallow the eggs which then mature in the gastrointestinal tract of the horse. So if a bot fly does land on you and successfully lay an egg, MOST people are sensible and dont consume the eggs and will easily remove them...

 

[geckodan]

Its a dipteran larvae of some sort. Batrachomyia sp is the most common - this specimen may have emerged for final pupation. Either way , better out than in.

 

[Wing_Nut]

This may be of interest to you.

http://www.rzsnsw.org.au/Volumes of...rates and the influence on frog condition.pdf

Regards

Wing_Nut

 

[eipper]

Batrachomyia