Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
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.
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.
The thorax is covered with long hairs that give it a creamy white color, while the abdomen is completely black. [4] Much like other horse fly species, the Tabanus punctifer female requires a blood meal for the development of their eggs. [5] Females will bite horses, livestock, and humans, making them vectors of disease for pathogens and ...
Black flies are very small, just a bit bigger than gnats, and tend to gather in swarms. Stable flies look a lot like a typical house fly, except they have a protruding mouthpart to feed on (mostly ...
Before heading outdoors in Fort Worth, here’s what to know about this biting pest. This Texas fly can bite, leaving irritated skin. It loves the heat and moving water
Sandfly or sand fly is a colloquial name for any species or genus of flying, biting, blood-sucking dipteran (fly) encountered in sandy areas. In the United States, sandfly may refer to certain horse flies that are also known as "greenheads" (family Tabanidae), or to members of the family Ceratopogonidae. The bites usually result in a small ...
They are a common nuisance for humans, and many U.S. states have programs to suppress the black fly population. They spread several diseases, including river blindness in Africa ( Simulium damnosum and S. neavei ) and the Americas ( S. callidum and S. metallicum in Central America, S. ochraceum in Central and South America).