Life Cycle and Wing Morphometric Analysis of Sexual Dimorphism in Haematobia irritans Exigua (Diptera: Muscidae) From Bargur Hills, Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT Haematobia irritans exigua (buffalo fly) is a hematophagous ectoparasite of veterinary importance that causes significant stress to cattle, leading to economic losses in livestock production. Detailed knowledge of H. irritans exigua life cycle and its sexual dimorphism is essential for targeted control and integrated pest management. This study characterized the life cycle duration and key morphological, morphometric and wing geometric traits of H. irritans exigua collected from Bargur Hills, Tamil Nadu, India, from Bargur cattle ( Bos indicus ). The complete life cycle from egg to adult was observed under field conditions, lasting approximately 344–364 h. The classical morphometric analysis revealed statistically significant sexual dimorphism, with male flies possessing greater body length and wing length than female flies (). Geometric morphometric analysis across 15 homologous landmarks showed that the first two principal components captured of total shape variance. The Canonical Variate Analysis (, ; , demonstrated complete group separation , primarily driven by localized shape changes at the wing base, distal vein regions and outer margins. The multivariate regression confirmed significant allometric scaling (). These findings characterize the life cycle of H. irritans exigua and highlight distinct sex‐specific wing shape variations, confirming the utility of geometric morphometrics for precise taxonomic identification and sexual dimorphism assessment.