Cobboldia

{{Short description|Genus of parasitic flies}}

{{Automatic Taxobox

| image = Cobboldia elephantis.jpg

| image_caption = Cobboldia elephantis

| taxon = Cobboldia

| authority = Brauer, 1887

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• C. chrysidiformis Rodhain & Bequaert, 1915
• C. elephantis (Cobbold, 1882)
• C. roverei Gedoelst, 1915
• {{extinct}}C. russanovi Grunin, 1973

}}

Cobboldia is a genus of parasitic flies in the family Oestridae. Adult flies of Cobboldia elephantis lay their eggs near the mouth or base of the tusks of Asian elephant while the related Cobboldia loxodontis (=Platycobboldia loxodontis) parasitizes African elephants. The larvae hatch and develop in the mouth cavity and later move to the stomach. On maturing, the third instar larvae exit from the mouth and drop to the ground to pupate.{{cite book|author=Murray E. Fowler, Susan K. Mikota (Eds)|title=Elephant biology, medicine, and surgery|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-8138-0676-1|year=2006|page=166}}

File:Cobboldia_elephant_stomach.jpg stomach]]

A fossil species Cobboldia russanovi is known from the frozen remains of mammoths. Cobboldia roverei Gedoelst, 1915 (=Rodhainommia roverei, the green elephant stomach bot fly) has been noted from the African Forest Elephant.{{cite journal|title=Endoparasites of African Forest Elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis) from the Republic of Congo and Central African Republic|author1=John M. Kinsella|author2=Sharon L. Deem|author3=Stephen Blake|author4=Andrea S. Freeman|journal=Comparative Parasitology|volume=71|issue=2|year=2004|pages=104–110 |doi=10.1654/4131}}{{cite journal|author= Zumpt, F.| title= Remarks on the systematic position of myiasis producing flies (Diptera) of the African Elephant, Loxodonta africana (Blumensbach)| journal= Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London B| volume=27| issue=1–2| doi= 10.1111/j.1365-3113.1958.tb01513.x| pages= 8–14| year=1958}}

The genus is named after Thomas Spencer Cobbold (1828–1886) who described the first species as Gastrophilus elephantis.{{cite journal|journal=The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London|volume=2|issue=4|year=1882|title=The Parasites of Elephants|author=Cobbold, T. Spencer|pages=223–258|url=https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofli1879linn#page/246/mode/2up}}