Overview
A family of 20 genera (Lyal 1985b) and many species parasitising a great variety of mammals in most parts of the world. Several have been introduced into Australia with their domestic hosts:
Bovicola
bovis
(cattle),
B
.
ovis
(sheep),
B
.
caprae
(goat),
Werneckiella
equi
(horse),
Trichodectes
canis
(dog, including the dingo),
Felicola
subrostratus
(cat).
Description
Head relatively large; mouth-parts mandibulate. Antennae not concealed, usually filiform, 3-5-segmented; mandibles vertical; maxillary palps absent; meso- and metathorax usually fused. Antennae 3-segmented; tarsi single-clawed; on introduced mammals.