horse botfly
- noun
- /hɔrs ˈbɑtˌflaɪ/
- Specialized
:
mosca de los caballos
- The veterinarian diagnosed the horse with an infestation of horse botflies and recommended immediate treatment.
Examples
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You may notice the eggs of the horse botfly attached to your horse's legs or coat during summer.
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Stables must be kept clean to help reduce the risk of horse botfly infestations among horses.
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The horse botfly is a common parasite among horses.
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Many horses suffer from horse botflies during the summer.
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To prevent health issues, horse owners should regularly check for horse botfly larvae in their horses' digestive tracts.
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The presence of horse botfly eggs on a horse's coat can indicate a potential parasitic infestation.
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During the warm months, it's common for horse owners to treat their animals for horse botflies to avoid complications.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A large hairy fly whose larvae grow under the skin of mammals and cause pain
A fly whose young live in horses' stomachs and cause illness
A type of fly whose young live in horses' stomachs and can cause harm
A group of flies that lay eggs on horses and live as parasites
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward noun–noun compound where the modifier 'horse' restricts the head 'botfly' to a botfly associated with horses; the overall meaning (a botfly that infests horses) is directly derivable from the constituents. Such compound formation (type-of relationships) is common cross-linguistically and therefore immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Horse botfly comes from a simple picture: a fly called a botfly lays eggs on a horse's legs or coat. When the horse licks the eggs the young hatch and live in the horse's stomach, so the name shows a 'botfly that lives in horses'.