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Warble Flies (Oedemagena tarand i Latreille) in Reindeer of Gydan Peninsula Subarctic Tundra

A. A. GAVRICHKIN, T. A. KHLYZOVA1, O. A. FIODOROVA, A. N. SIBEN AND A. A.GAVRICHKINA
All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Veterinary Entomology and Arachnology, Branch of Federal State
Institution, Federal Research Centre Tyumen Scientific Centre of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, Institutskaya Street 2, Tyumen, Russia, 625041
*(e-mail : a_gavrichkin@inbox.ru; Mobile : 8 (345) 262-57-00)
(Received : December 14, 2018; Accepted : March 18, 2019)

ABSTRACT

The research was conducted at All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Veterinary Entomology and
Arachnology, Branch of Federal State Institution Federal Research Centre Tyumen Scientific Centre of
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The distribution of Oedemagena tarand i in the
Subarctic Tundra of the Gydan Peninsula was studied. The research was carried out in 2003-18 on the
basis of reindeer-breeding brigades of the state enterprise “Antipayutinsky”, in the District Veterinary
Laboratory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District and at slaughter units. Adults of reindeer warble
flies were caught near herds of grazing deer using an entomological net. In order to assess the extent of
movement of adult warble flies from the main deer herd, counts were carried out directly in the herd, and
at a distance of one, three, five and seven kilometers from it. Thirty-nine surveys were carried out to
determine the abundance of adult flies outside the herd. The infection rate of oedemagenosis was estimated
based on results of the examination of deer during the clinical manifestation of the disease. Animal carcasses
(corpses), superficial subcutaneous fascia and hides were visually inspected for the presence of O. tarand
i larvae. The rate of the O. tarand i larvae infestation in deer was assessed using such indicators as
infestation prevalence and infestation intensity. The average infestation prevalence of domesticated deer
was 85.6±1.6% with infestation intensity of 93.8±2.2 larvae. Comparison of migration routes of reindeer
brigades demonstrated that the routes with the northernmost grazing territories were the safest in regard
to warble fly infestation. This was also true for the territories that are located in the immediate vicinity of
the Tazov and Ob Bays, where climatic conditions are unfavourable for swarming of warble flies. The
infestation prevalence of O. tarand i larvae in deer, the grazing territories of which were northernmost was
82.1%, the infestation intensity there were 88.2±8.0 larvae. In deer that grazed in relative proximity to the
Tazov Bay, the infestation prevalence was 87.3% and the infestation intensity was 89.2±7.5 larvae. The
incidence ratio of warble flies in young and adult reindeer was 9.4 : 8.3. The authors discovered clear
patterns in the distribution of O. tarand i : the abundance of adults in the wild and the rate of the larvae
infestation in deer are decreasing to the north-west, especially in the immediate vicinity of the Tazov and
Ob Bays.

Key words :Reindeer, warble fly, prevalence, intensity, infestation, subarctic Tundra