Post by trehopr1 on Dec 1, 2018 2:18:11 GMT
Sometimes, in life it's not "what you know" but, "who you know" that makes a difference in some way in your life. On occasion, family, friends, or even mere acquaintances can "surprise" you with something which they have thought of.... with you in mind. Such is the case here with my story...
Re-winding the hands of time we stop at early 1973. At that time, I was a lad who had just turned 12 and I was in the 7th grade. By that time everyone from classmates, to friends, and even some acquaintances of them knew about my inordinate fondness for insects. The nickname "bug man" was coined by both friends as well as their parents. Classmates tended to use "moth man" to get my attention about anything insect related.
So, one day in late January 1973 as I was walking to school with a friend from "down the block"; he said "Hey, my dad has something for you that he found at work and he's bringing it home tonight --- so stop by". I said ok and do you know what it is? He replied no but, I hope it's cool...
I had known my friends parents at that time for a few years. I always called them Mr. or Mrs., always said thank you for anything, and always showed respect for them as adults (which is something not so much seen these days). I knew my friend's dad worked at our local zoo as an animal attendant. He was not a zookeeper in the true sense as zookeepers tended to be the ones (College educated) and in charge of the everyday management of select animal buildings (i.e. Lion House, Reptile House, Pachyderm House etc.) Animal attendants were the "backbone and muscle" workers within the buildings who did the necessary but, menial work needed. They basically fed the animals their allotted food portions, cleaned up feces/excrement, scrubbed down cages during rounds of cleaning, and transferred animals from indoor cages to out of doors in favorable weather. It was a job and he was assigned to the Pachyderm house which was probably the most odiferous of them all ! Yet, it was still better than the work most of my other friends parents did.
That evening I showed up at Tommy's door (after dinnertime) and his father answered. He had a jar in his hand and he said "Freddy, I found this thing at work about a month ago as a grub crawling about a pile of "Rhinoceros crap". I put it in this jar and set it on my desktop at work and just yesterday noticed it had changed into something" I hope it's something neat !
Looking at the jar, I spied a very large fly within; and still very much alive as it was "preening" itself. I said wow! and thank you for thinking of me. He said hope you like it and be sure to pin it in your collection!
Below, is what he gave me.
Gyrostigma rhinocerontis (Hope 1840)
Rhinoceros Bot Fly
Data:Emerged as adult Jan.14.1973
ex. larva in dung of (Ceratotherium simum)
"White Rhinoceros" / ex. Africa...
hatched out 20 days after being found as larva.
Brookfield Zoo.,Chicago Illinois.
Adults of the rhinoceros bot fly are the largest flies in Africa. Their larvae are obligate parasites, developing only in the stomachs of living rhinoceros. Adults live only for a few days because they have very reduced non-functional mouthparts and do not feed. Within that short life span, female flies have to locate a mate, mate, and then find a new rhinoceros host for their eggs.
As rhinoceros numbers decline so do the numbers of these flies, and should rhinos become extinct; the flies would likely disappear too. An example of co-extinction.
The small family this fly belongs to is the Oestridae (bot and warble flies).
So, you see sometimes "surprises" do arrive in small packages. It honestly took me 20 years to finally figure out what this fly was but, it was always a special thing to me regardless of it being rare in collections !
Re-winding the hands of time we stop at early 1973. At that time, I was a lad who had just turned 12 and I was in the 7th grade. By that time everyone from classmates, to friends, and even some acquaintances of them knew about my inordinate fondness for insects. The nickname "bug man" was coined by both friends as well as their parents. Classmates tended to use "moth man" to get my attention about anything insect related.
So, one day in late January 1973 as I was walking to school with a friend from "down the block"; he said "Hey, my dad has something for you that he found at work and he's bringing it home tonight --- so stop by". I said ok and do you know what it is? He replied no but, I hope it's cool...
I had known my friends parents at that time for a few years. I always called them Mr. or Mrs., always said thank you for anything, and always showed respect for them as adults (which is something not so much seen these days). I knew my friend's dad worked at our local zoo as an animal attendant. He was not a zookeeper in the true sense as zookeepers tended to be the ones (College educated) and in charge of the everyday management of select animal buildings (i.e. Lion House, Reptile House, Pachyderm House etc.) Animal attendants were the "backbone and muscle" workers within the buildings who did the necessary but, menial work needed. They basically fed the animals their allotted food portions, cleaned up feces/excrement, scrubbed down cages during rounds of cleaning, and transferred animals from indoor cages to out of doors in favorable weather. It was a job and he was assigned to the Pachyderm house which was probably the most odiferous of them all ! Yet, it was still better than the work most of my other friends parents did.
That evening I showed up at Tommy's door (after dinnertime) and his father answered. He had a jar in his hand and he said "Freddy, I found this thing at work about a month ago as a grub crawling about a pile of "Rhinoceros crap". I put it in this jar and set it on my desktop at work and just yesterday noticed it had changed into something" I hope it's something neat !
Looking at the jar, I spied a very large fly within; and still very much alive as it was "preening" itself. I said wow! and thank you for thinking of me. He said hope you like it and be sure to pin it in your collection!
Below, is what he gave me.
Gyrostigma rhinocerontis (Hope 1840)
Rhinoceros Bot Fly
Data:Emerged as adult Jan.14.1973
ex. larva in dung of (Ceratotherium simum)
"White Rhinoceros" / ex. Africa...
hatched out 20 days after being found as larva.
Brookfield Zoo.,Chicago Illinois.
Adults of the rhinoceros bot fly are the largest flies in Africa. Their larvae are obligate parasites, developing only in the stomachs of living rhinoceros. Adults live only for a few days because they have very reduced non-functional mouthparts and do not feed. Within that short life span, female flies have to locate a mate, mate, and then find a new rhinoceros host for their eggs.
As rhinoceros numbers decline so do the numbers of these flies, and should rhinos become extinct; the flies would likely disappear too. An example of co-extinction.
The small family this fly belongs to is the Oestridae (bot and warble flies).
So, you see sometimes "surprises" do arrive in small packages. It honestly took me 20 years to finally figure out what this fly was but, it was always a special thing to me regardless of it being rare in collections !
