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Horse flies and deer flies [a] are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect order Diptera. The adults are often large and agile in flight. Only female horseflies bite land vertebrates, including humans, to obtain blood. They prefer to fly in sunlight, avoiding dark and shady areas, and are inactive at night.
Tabanus is a genus of biting horseflies of the family Tabanidae. Females have scissor-like mouthparts that are able to penetrate the skin of livestock animals. The horsefly can then extract and ingest the animal's blood. Horseflies of this genus are known to be potential vectors of anthrax, worms and trypanosomes.
Female horseflies have mouthparts designed to tear skin so they can feed off mammal blood, and you may feel the bite as it's happening (differentiating it from a mosquito bite). 6. Chigger bites
Mouthparts of a female mosquito feeding on blood. The flexible labium supports the bundle of stylets which penetrates the host's skin. In female mosquitoes, all mouthparts are elongated. The labium encloses all other mouthparts, the stylets, like a sheath. The labrum forms the main feeding tube, through which blood is sucked.
On the other end of the spectrum, horse flies and deer flies use "blade-like" mouthparts to slash the skin before eating the spilling blood, which causes large, painful bites, Frye says.
Female T. sudeticus Tabanus sudeticus is found in many countries of Western Europe. It has a marked northern and western distribution; being found as far north as southern Norway and the Western Isles of Scotland , and with an occasional record from Belarus .
These horse flies can be encountered during the daylight hours from late May through late October. [5] The males are harmless and feed on nectar, [7] while the females feed on mammal blood (hematophagy) (hence the Latin name Haematopota pluvialis, literally meaning 'blooddrinker of the rains'), mainly cattle and horses, needing blood for developing eggs.
Adult horse flies can be found in July and August. Males of this species feed on plant juices, while female are bloodsuckers. The females have a high fecundity. They can lay about 500 eggs at an oviposition. The larvae pass through 10–13 instars and the full life-cycle lasts 3–5 years. This horsefly may cause appreciable damages on stock farms.