Ajuga vs Common cattle grub

Ajuga reptans compared with Hypoderma lineatum

Key Differences

Ajuga is Endangered while Common cattle grub is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Ajuga	Common cattle grub
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lamiales (Lamiales)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family	Lamiaceae	Oestridae
Genus	Ajuga	Hypoderma
Species	Ajuga reptans	Hypoderma lineatum

Conservation Status

Ajuga

EN — Endangered

Common cattle grub

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Ajuga	Common cattle grub
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Ajuga

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, tundra, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, among 11 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (Japan), Europe (6 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand), and South America (Brazil, Colombia). Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Common cattle grub

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Japan, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

Ajuga

The Ajuga (Ajuga reptans) is a species in the genus Ajuga. It is currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, tundra, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, among 11 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environment.

Common cattle grub

<em>Hypoderma lineatum</em>, commonly known as the common cattle grub, is a parasitic fly species with documented occurrences in Japan, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. It typically inhabited terrestrial and freshwater environments, often associated with cattle and other large ungulates on which its larvae develop as subcutaneous parasites. The species is classified as Extinct on the IUCN Red List, indicating that it is no longer known to exist in the wild. Common cattle grub belongs to the genus <em>Hypoderma</em> within the family Oestridae. Adult flies do not feed and are short-lived, while larvae burrow under the skin of host animals, causing a condition known as hypodermosis or warble fly infestation. The decline and extinction of this species has been linked to widespread and highly effective veterinary treatment programs targeting warble fly larvae in cattle, which drastically reduced host populations and ultimately eliminated the species. Biological traits such as average lifespan, body length, and mass of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.