The common horse fly (''Haematopota pluvialis''), also known as the notch-horned cleg fly, or simply cleg in Scotland and northern parts of Ireland, is a fly species belonging to the family
Tabanidae
Horse flies and deer flies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect order Diptera. The adults are often large and agile in flight. Only females bite land vertebrates, including humans, to obtain blood. They prefer to fly in sunli ...
subfamily
Tabaninae
Tabaninae is a subfamily in the family Horse-fly, Tabanidae commonly known as horse flies . There are more than 3000 described species in Tabaninae.
Tribes and genera Diachlorini
*''Acanthocera'' Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart, Macquart, 1834
*'' ...
.
[ ]
Distribution and habitat
This species is present in most of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, in the
Near East
The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...
, and in the eastern
Palearctic realm
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The ...
. It mainly lies in heath and moorland, and in spruce forest edge.
[
]
Description
Common horse flies can reach a length of , with a wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
of 8–10 mm.[Commanster]
/ref> This species has large compound eyes necessary for locating its prey. They are hairy and brightly colored, with stripes extended over most of the eye. In males, the eyes touch at the centre of the frons and the colored stripes are restricted to the lower part.[Nature Spot]
/ref>
The first antennal segment is quite bulbous and has a strong sub-apical notch in the female. The thorax is grey, with black longitudinal stripes. The abdomen shows a dark background with a series of lateral pale spots and clearer bands at the end of each black segment. Also the wings have a distinctive pattern, being dark mottled by several clear spots. The legs are black, with yellowish-brown rings.
/ref>
This species is similar to the also common '' Haematopota crassicornis'', but differs from that species in the orange third antennal segment, in the presence of the sub-apical notch and in the overall brown colouration compared to the often grey tinge of ''crassicornis''.[
]
Biology
These horse flies can be encountered during the daylight hours from late May through late October.[ The males are harmless and feed on nectar,][ while the females feed on mammal blood (]hematophagy
Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the practice by certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words αἷμα ' "blood" and φαγεῖν ' "to eat"). Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious ...
) (hence the Latin name ''Haematopota pluvialis'', literally meaning 'blooddrinker of the rains'), mainly cattle and horses, needing blood for developing eggs. When they bite they inject fluids inhibiting the coagulation of blood, which flows out in such a way that allows the horsefly to lap it. They are also able to bite humans painfully. Females lay their eggs at the base of grass-stems or on the surface of moist soil.
Gallery
File:Haematopota pluvialis (Diptera sp.), Giethoorn, the Netherlands.jpg, Female
File:Haematopota pluvialis01.jpg, Male, with its characteristic eyes
File: Tabanidae - Haematopota pluvialis-001.JPG, The separated female eyes
File:Haematopota.pluvialis.wing.detail.jpg, Wing detail
Bibliography
* Brightwell, R. & Dransfield, R.D. (2014)
Survey of Tabanidae (horseflies) in southern England 2014. A preliminary survey of tabanids using odour-baited NG2F traps.
14 pp.
* Burgess, N.R.H. et al. (1978). The immature stages of the common cleg Haematopota pluvialis L. (Diptera: Tabanidae). J. roy. Army med. Cps. 124, 27-30.
* Cameron, A.E. (1930). Oviposition of Haematopota pluvialis Linne. Nature 126, 601-602.
* Grayson, A. (2001). Notes on the behaviour of males of Haematopota crassicornis Wahlberg and Haematopota pluvialis (Linnaeus). Larger Brachycera Recording Scheme Newsletter 19.
* Kniepert, F.W. (1980)
Blood-feeding and nectar-feeding in adult Tabanidae (Diptera).
Oecologia 46, 125-129.
* Krčmar, S. (2004). Ecological notes on Tabanus bromius L., and Haematopota pluvialis (L.), (Diptera: Tabanidae) of some flood areas in Croatian sections of the river Danube. Journal of Vector Ecology 29(2), 376-378.
* Krčmar, S. et al. (2006)
Response of Tabanidae (Diptera) to different natural attractants.
Journal of Vector Ecology 31(2), 262-265. Full text
* Liebisch, A.(1987). Vector Biology of Flies on Grazing Cattle in Germany. Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science 45, 109-115.
* Titchener, R.N. et al. (1981)
Flies associated with cattle in south west Scotland during the summer months.
Researches in Veterinary Science 30 (1), 109-113.
*Ross, H.C.G. 1978 - A note on the hovering behaviour of Haematopota pluvialis (Linne, 1758) (Diptera:Tabanidae) Entomologist’s Gazttte 28:267-268
*Stone, A.L. and Philip, B., 1974 - The Oriental Species of the Tribe Haematopotini (Diptera, Tabanidae), United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service - Technical Bulletin, 1489 - Washington D.C.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q939493
Tabanidae
Flies described in 1758
Diptera of Europe
Articles containing video clips
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus