Subject: Green Horse Fly
Location: Palm Coast, Fl
May 14, 2013 11:23 am
I saw this guy flitting about the plants near my house and he had me rather baffled to what he is. Thanks to your site I was able to identify him as the Green Horse Fly and also found out he was the harmless male (phew!). He made for a great bug model though, let me get real close without a worry. Bugguide says that only females seek out mammalian blood, so I guess males go after nectar of some sort? He was very interested in the wild flowers, and that’s where I lost sight of him. I love this site and I hope you guys like my photos.
Signature: Monica Velazquez

Green Horse Fly

Hi Monica,
We really do love your photo of a male Green Horse Fly, Chlorotabanus crepuscularis, the only green member of the family in North America.  You can tell by the closely spaced eyes that your Green Horse Fly is a male.

Green Horse Fly

2   I like This

Related posts:

Male Black Horse Fly Horse Fly: Male and Female Eye Comparison Green Female Horse Fly Horse Fly: Chlorotabanus crepuscularis

Subject: What type of fly is this?
Location: New Zealand
January 8, 2013 4:30 am
We saw this Large white fly in Northland NZ on 07/01/13 and wondered what it is. It was very placid and wasn’t afraid of us at all, in fact it jumped from the piece of wood we photographed it on, onto ond of us!! I have never seen one in New Zealand before. It was quite large and bigger than a typical NZ house or Blow fly.
Signature: Yours suncerely, Dion Brown

Horse Fly

Hi Dion,
This is a Horse Fly or Gadfly in the family Tabanidae, a group that is commonly called March Flies in Australia.  The Insects of Tasmania website has several unidentified species that look very similar to your individual.  Female Horse Flies bite and feed on blood from large warm blooded animals, including people if there is no other food source, and males feed on nectar.

0   I like This

Related posts:

Mating March Flies in New Zealand Horse Fly from the UK Horse Fly Horse Fly Larva

Subject: Help identifying bug-please?
Location: Michigan
August 6, 2012 7:44 am
Found this guy on my apartment deck. Staring at me. Husband thought it was a cicada, but I’m not sure. It was pretty big-Bigger than my thumb for sure.
Signature: Oddly Fascinated.

Horse Fly

Dear Oddly Fascinated,
This is a Horse Fly and it appears to be a male because of the close set eyes.  See our own Male and Female Horse Fly Eye Comparison.  Only female Horse Flies are Blood Suckers.  We believe the species may be Tabanus atratus, the Black Horse Fly, based on images posted to BugGuide.

0   I like This

Related posts:

Horse Fly Horse Fly Western Horse Fly Black Horse Fly

Subject: Evil Beach Fly in; War against the Photographers
Location: Oregon, OH (near Toledo)
July 10, 2012 8:11 am
G’day Bugman.
I went to the beach today. Not your normal fun-in-the-sun beach. This was the stunning Magee Marsh nature preserve. I took my doggy companion, and we had planned on a nice two hour walk around the beach and the trails to photograph bugs.
Well, after finding that the board walk is off limits to pets (Understandable with all the bird photographers,) and the other path is off limits due to Bald Eagle nesting, we wanted to stick to the beach. However, while I did find plenty of bugs… They were all the same bug. And they were on a mission. Thousands of these bugs were hovering above the sand, and I was hoping they would mind their own business. However, upon my entering the beach, they began relentlassly harassing my dog and I. They’d get in my dogs ears, and were obsessed with trying to get in my face, on my neck, and on my hand. I ran back to my car, and applied my emergency bug spray (deet based) and my dog’s bug spray (not deet based,) which I hate to use but I really wanted to get some photos in and I’m a bit of a pansy. They were completely undeturred.
I’m bad at flies… It looks like maybe a deer fly to me, but since there are very few deer around (rabbits are about the only mammal that hangs out there in any mass) it seemed odd. Any ideas? Were they being territorial/defensive, or did I just look tasty? I did not actually get bit that I am aware of, so I can’t say if they’re a biting fly.
… And I didn’t actually think they were evil. But I do wish I could have explained to them what a long drive I took to get there and how much I’d enjoy if they’d give me some peace
Signature: Katy

Deer Fly

Hi Katy,
We are sorry to hear your Oregon beach experience was unpleasant.  We agree that this is a Deer Fly, and it very closely resembles Silvius gigantulus which is pictured on BugGuide.  Additionally, BugGuide has received reports from California and Washington in June and July, so it can be deduced that the species also ranges in Oregon and would appear at the same time of year.  OOPS, we just realized you are in Ohio and the city is Oregon, but the fly still looks correct.  We will see if the genus is represented in Ohio.

1   I like This

Related posts:

Deer Fly Robber Fly eats Deer Fly Deer Fly Chartreuse Fly Acts Like Deer Fly?

Subject: Yellow ”fly” with cicada-like wings
Location: Monteagle, TN
July 6, 2012 7:04 pm
I found this bug on a car in Monteagle, TN. The bug is yellow, and has wings like a cicada, but does not fly like one; it flies more like a fly. Is this a fly, or something else? Thanks!
Signature: Dan

Striped Horse Fly

Hi Dan,
This is a Horse Fly, and based on the close-set eyes, it is a male.  We believe we have identified it as Tabanus lineola, the Striped Horse Fly, based on this image from BugGuide.  Female Horse Flies can deliver a painful bite, but you have no reason to fear the males of the species.

0   I like This

Related posts:

Horse Fly Horse Fly from Mexico Horse Fly Striped Horse Fly

Subject: Beautiful biter
Location: Jordan
May 30, 2012 9:55 am
Ok, here’s a fly that found me instead of the other way around!
It is attractive, with those eyes and patterned wings, but its bite was painful.
I’d love to know what it is, so any help identifying it would be great!
Signature: Ben from Israel

Horse Fly

Hi Ben,
We do not recognize this Biting Fly.  We will post your photo in the hope that we can get to this at a later date or that one of our readers will have luck with an identification.

Karl identifies the Horse Fly
Hi Daniel and Ben from Israel:
This is a Horsefly in the family Tabanidae. It looks very similar to the Cleg Fly from Europe, Haematopota pluvialis, but the wing patterns are not quite right and I don’t think that species makes it as far south as Jordan. I believe it is probably another fly in the same genus; this kind of wing pattern is apparently diagnostic for the genus. There is an excellent paper titled “Systematics and distribution of horse flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) of Jordan” (H. Al-Talafha, et al. 2004), accessible online at: http://www.sove.org/Society_for_Vector_Ecology/Journal/Entries/2005/6/1_Volume_30,_Number_1_files/8Al-Tafaha%20et%20al.pdf. According to this paper there are 3 species of Haematopota in Jordan. Although not all are described in detail, I believe the posted image is probably a H. coronata. The above paper includes an identification key with the following description for H. coronata: “Wing tip is always clear (Plate I-e), a brown band extends between antennal base to the lateral sides of the eyes”. I hope this helps. Regards.  Karl

0   I like This

Related posts:

Horse Fly from Mexico Grasshoppers mating in Jordan Horse Fly from the UK Jewel Beetle from Jordan

fly
Subject: fly
Location: southeast Texas
March 29, 2012 4:16 pm
I spied this unique fly – it looks like a horsefly, but is green. ’can’t seem to find it here on the site. It is not a bottle fly – much bigger.
Signature: Melanie

Chlorotabanus crepuscularis

Hi Melanie,
She, recognizable by her wide spaced eyes, really is a beautiful green Horse Fly, Chlorotabanus crepuscularis.  Green Horse Fly is a perfect common name for the genus since “Choloro” refers to the color green and Tabanus is a genus of Horse Fly.  According to BugGuide:  “Body pale green, eyes and thorax yellowish green. The only green tabanid in NA.”

1   I like This

Related posts:

Horse Fly Green Horse Fly Female Black Horse Fly Horse Fly: Chlorotabanus crepuscularis