Habronema

A genus of spiruroid nematodes inhabiting the stomach of horses. The larvae develop in housefly and stable fly maggots living in manure, become infective when the fly larvae pupate, and are carried by adult flies to open wounds on horses, where they are left and cause cutaneous habronemiasis; reinfection of the horse's stomach by H. occurs by accidental ingestion of infected flies or from licking wounds in which infective larvae are found. [G. habros, graceful, delicate, + nema, a thread]

- H. majus one of two species (the other being H. microstoma) similar in appearance, hosts, distribution, and life cycle to H. muscae; the intermediate host is the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans.

- H. megastoma a species that causes tumors in gastric mucosa containing large numbers of the small nematodes; the larvae cause cutaneous habronemiasis; the intermediate host is the common housefly, Musca domestica.

- H. microstoma H. majus.

- H. muscae a species that occurs in the stomach of the horse, mule, ass, or zebra; the intermediate host is the common housefly, Musca domestica, or related flies.

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Hab·ro·ne·ma .hab-rō-'nē-mə n a genus of parasitic nematode worms of the family Spiruridae that develop in flies of the genera Musca and Stomoxys and live as adults in the stomach of the horse or the proventriculus of various birds see HABRONEMIASIS, SUMMER SORES

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Hab·ro·ne·ma (hab″ro-neґmə) [Gr. habros graceful + nema] a genus of nematodes of the family Habronematidae. The larval forms are taken up from the feces of horses by flies and the flies, when swallowed along with the feed by the same or a different horse, can then transmit the larvae back into the horse's stomach. Larvae may also be transmitted to the skin of horses to produce cutaneous habronemiasis.