Notes on Box Turtles in Colorado

Cutaneous Myiasis and Its Relationship to Wellness in Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene Carolina Carolina) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts

“…26 Many studies have identified Cistudinomyia cistudinis , a species of fly in the family Sarcophagidae, to cause myiasis in box turtles. 11,16,21,30,35,38,41,47,51,53,55,57,64 These reports describe varying degrees of myiasis from single to multiple lesions and report lesions in similar anatomic locations to the EBT in this study. Myiasis due to species in Oestridae 65 and Calliphoridae 1 has also been reported and cannot be entirely excluded without speciation attempts.…”

“…Myiasis is not a new threat to box turtles and has been previously documented in turtles from IL,KS, MS, GA, NC, FL, MD, NJ, CT, MA, and NY. 1,16,21,28,35,41,47,51,53,55,57,58 In affected turtles, larvae are found in subdermal cavities with associated breathing pores typically on or around the limbs. Individuals eventually form plugs of necrotic debris that seal the pores following larval egress, and the areas become scar tissue once healed.…”

Incidence of Botfly Infestation in the Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)

“…My observations of fully developed larvae were confined to springtime; I did not sample between mid-July and the following winter. Legler (1960) reported finding infected box turtles throughout the activity season, and captures of infected Terrapene were reported in late July (Emerton 1904), August (Peters 1948;Rodeck 1949;Rainey 1953), September (Peters 1948), andNovember (McMullen 1940;Rokosky 1948), corroborating Legler's observations.…”

Copulation Phenology of Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene ornata)

“…Corroborative evidence comes from the most southern, and presumably warmer, site of Blair (1976) who observed turtles active on the surface from March through December, yet only saw copulations during April to October. There are accounts, nonetheless, of captive T. ornata copulating in every month of the year (e.g., Rodeck, 1949; Vogt, 1981).…”