''Tabanus sudeticus'', also known as the dark giant horsefly, 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 ...

. It is the heaviest fly in Europe.

Description

The dark giant horsefly's length is around 20-25 millimeters. They have uniform dark brown eyes. Dark giant horseflies are a common species to be found buzzing around cows and horses. They usually only suck blood from those horses and cows, avoiding humans. They fly with a very loud buzzing.

Distribution

''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 Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and the Western Isles of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and with an occasional record from

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

References

Tabanidae Diptera of Europe Taxa named by Philipp Christoph Zeller Insects described in 1842 {{tabanoidea-stub