© Zoo Outreach Organisation; www.zoosprint.org Manuscript 1439; Received 23 September 2005; Revised received 13 January 2006; Finally accepted 12 February 2006; Date of publication 21 March 2006 2229 April 2006 | ISSN 0973-2535 (Print edition); 0973-2551 (Online edition) Hippoboscid flies belong to the family Hippoboscidae of the section Pupipara and are adapted for parasitic life. Most of them live on blood of mammals or birds. Among them, Hippobosca, Melophaga and Lipoptena are the main genera which parasitize mammals. The present communication reports the occurrence of Lipoptena cervi (Image 1w) in a wild deer at Wyanad, Kerala and its zoonotic significance.