''Tabanus bovinus'', sometimes called the pale giant horse-fly, is a species of biting

horse-fly Horse flies and deer flies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect Order (biology), order Diptera. The adults are often large and agile in flight. Only females bite land vertebrates, including humans, to hematophagy, obtain blood ...

. As the

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

suggests, it prefers

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including Bos, cattle, bison, African buffalo, Bubalus, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this gro ...

animals as the source of blood, although it may bite other kind of mammals as well. The insect is relatively large for a horse-fly, adults usually being 25–30 mm long. Like most other horseflies, its compound eyes are very colorful with stripe-like patterns. Its body and wings are mostly colored brownish gray. It is quite fast and an able flier, being capable of evading most attempts to swat it with ease. It bites humans infrequently, because of its preference of bovine animals. This loud-buzzing horse-fly can be a nuisance, as it circles around its target and occasionally lands to deliver a bite (in the case of humans, the fly usually takes off again instead). However, to humans it is considerably less harmful than deer flies (''Chrysops''), which bite much more vigorously. Tabanus_bovinus_f

There are no commercially available insect repellents that fully work against this horse-fly, however it usually avoids smoke and exhaust gases. Weather has a great effect on the horse-flies' behavior, as they only fly on sunny and hot weather. Like all horse-fly species, it is only the females that require a

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

meal, this is in order to provide sufficient

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

to produce eggs. Males do not bite and tend to prefer the cover of woodland, where they are

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

References

Insects described in 1758 Tabanidae Diptera of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{tabanoidea-stub