Hippobosca

HIPPOBOSCA EQUiNA L., horse ked, belongs to the suborder pupipara (order Diptera). Although it has wings, it flies reluctantly. Its body is dorsoventrally flattened. The legs end in relatively large claws. The mouthparts are piercing-sucking. It most commonly parasitizes horses; it crawls around the anus and on the inner surface of the hind legs. It is a bloodsucker. It irritates its hosts with stings from the mouthparts and by tickling with its legs. When reproducing, Hippobosca equina gives birth to a firm white larva of almost perfectly spherical shape; on the posterior end, the larva bears a double black tubercle with respiratory pores. During pupation, the outer shell of the barrel-shaped pupa (pupa coarctata) quickly turns black. The metamorphosis lasts about a year. To protect horses from horse keds, the posterior part of the body is dusted with Persian powder or rubbed with a decoction of hazel leaves or with animal fat.