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Webster 1913 Edition
Gadfly
Gad′flyˊ
(găd′flīˊ)
, Noun.
pl.
Gadflies
(#)
. [
Gad
+ fly
.] (Zool.)
Any dipterous insect of the genus
Oestrus
, and allied genera of botflies. ☞ The sheep
gadfly
(Oestrus ovis
) deposits its young in the nostrils of sheep, and the larvæ develop in the frontal sinuses. The common species which infests cattle (Hypoderma bovis
) deposits its eggs upon or in the skin where the larvæ or bots live and produce sores called wormels. The gadflies
of the horse produce the intestinal parasites called bots. See Botfly
, and Bots
. The true horseflies are often erroneously called gadflies, and the true gadflies
are sometimes incorrectly called breeze flies
. Gadfly petrel
(Zool.)
, one of several small petrels of the genus
Oestrelata
.Webster 1828 Edition
Gadfly
GAD'FLY
,Noun.