Haematobia irritans (Linnaeus, 1758)

(Fig. 36)

Material examined. ARGENTINA: MENDOZA: 1 female, Mansilla, Salares Grandes, 1997, Roig & Debandi leg. (IADIZA). TUCUMÁN: 3 females, Leales, 7-XII-1994, Vera leg. (IFML).

Distribution in Argentina (Fig. 36): Buenos Aires; Córdoba; Corrientes; Entre Ríos; La Pampa; Mendoza (new record); Misiones; Santa Fe; Tucumán (new record).

References for Argentina . Anziani et al. (1993); Busetti et al. (1996); Fader et al. (2003); Luzuriaga et al. (1991); Perotti & Brasesco (1998); Sheppard & Torres (1998); Suarez et al. (1995).

Remarks. A brief redescription was provided by Hennig (1964). The immature stages were studied by Skidmore (1985).

Biology. The horn fly, H. irritans, is a blood sucking species associated with cattle, and is considered a major agricultural pest. Haematobia irritans is also a vector of Stephanofilaria stilesi, a skin parasite of cattle (Lehane 2005). The females of this species lay their eggs in the faeces of cattle (Tarelli 2004). This introduced species was recorded for the first time in Argentina in Misiones (Luzuriaga et al. 1991), and later in the central part of the country (Torres et al. 1992).