Abstract

During the grading processes of leather, one of the most common downgrading defects is ‘light spot’. Small scale trial work has established that a form of ‘light spot’ was produced on bovine crust leather after the live animal had been exposed to biting flies (specifically Stomoxj’s calcitrans).

The resultant damage was found to have sharper boundary edges, compared with the diffuse edges associated with lice ‘light spot’ damage. The ‘light spots’ were grouped closely together and were of a more consistent, regular size and shape than either lice or demodex damage. The fly damage penetrated into the corium layer of the skin, beyond the superficial grain enamel loss associated with lice damage.