Distribution of the Bot Fly Cuterebra emasculator (Diptera: Cuterebridae) in South Carolina1

Larvae of the bot fly Cuterebra emasculator Fitch infest tree squirrels and chipmunks from the Atlantic Ocean to just west of the Mississippi River and from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast of the United States. Whether the species is present in all states and provinces in this region is not well documented. Because there are few published records of C. emasculator in South Carolina, we gathered data on its occurrence in each county by obtaining reports of bot fly-infested squirrels from wildlife rehabilitators, veterinarians, wildlife biologists, county extension agents, hunters, and other wildlifeoriented people. The results indicate that C. emasculator infests squirrels, especially the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin), throughout the state. In South Carolina there apparently are no bot fly-free refugia (at the scale of counties) where squirrels might escape from Cuterebra parasites.