Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

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Olfersia sordida Bigot, 1885

mosca, fly

ectoparasite

Living parasitic on Pelecanus occidentalis urinator (Brown Pelican) and Phalacrocorax harrisi (Flightless Cormorant). Common parasite of marine fish-eating birds (Bequaert 1957).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Diptera

Suborder
Brachycera

Family
Hippoboscidae

Genus
Olfersia

Species
sordida

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn: fossulata Coquillett (not Macquart) 1901a: 379.

Origin: Native

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: Neotropical; Daphne Major, Fernandina, Genovesa, Rábida, Santa Cruz, Santiago, Wolf.

References

  • Madden, D. Harmon, W.M. (1998) First record and morphology of Myialges caulotoon (Acari: Epidermoptidae) from Galapagos hosts. The Journal of Parasitology 34(1): 186-189.
  • Parker, P.G. Whiteman, N.K., & Miller, R.E. (2006) Conservation medicine on the Galápagos Islands: partnerships among behavioral, population, and veterinarian scientists. The Auk 123(3): 625-638.
  • Sinclair, B. J. (2023) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Zootaxa, 5283, 1-102
  • Sinclair, B.J. Peck, S.B. (2005) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 64 pp.
  • Whiteman, N.K. Sánchez, P., Merkel, J., Klompen, H. & Parker, P.G. (2006) Cryptic host specificity of an avian skin mite (Epidermoptidae) vectored by louseflies (Hippoboscidae) associated with two endemic Galápagos bird species. The Journal of Parasitology, 92(6): 1218-1228.

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This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Olfersia sordida", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=11856. Accessed 3 November 2026.