Effects of Cuterebra angustifrons on Plasma Proteins of Peromyscus leucopus

Marked alterations of plasma protein distribution occurred in white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) infested with botfly (Cuterebra angustifrons) larvae. Reductions in the albumin-to-globulin ratio of animals infested with botfly larvae were correlated significantly with the number of larvae present. Development of the Cuterebra larva in the host was accompanied by progressive depression in the A/G. Correspondingly, recovery in the A/G to the normal values occurred 8 days following loss of the bot. Ingestion of albumin by the bot was proposed as a partial explanation for the reduction in A/G in this type of dipteran parasitism.