Subject: What’s this big black fly with yellow middle?
Geographic location of the bug: Tweed River, Pittsfield VT
Date: 07/17/2018
Time: 02:07 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Please help us identify this enormous fly or whatever the heck it is!! We took the kids and dog for a swim in the River at the end of a hot day and these flies were relentless! We’ve never seen them before and I can’t find anything similar on the internet. If anyone knows what this is, it’s you.
How you want your letter signed: Thank you!
It’s an orange banded horse fly! I posted to Facebook and a friend helped us identify. So no need to waste your time on us. Horse fly?? I feel kinda silly I even asked!! LOL.
Thank you!
Michelle D.
Dear Michelle,
After verifying the identity of this Orange Banded Horse Fly, Hybomitra cincta, on BugGuide, our first thought is that it is a stunningly beautiful Horse Fly and BugGuide does note: “Females have first three segments of abdomen orange, rest of abdomen black (sharply delimited), and wings dark. Males are harder to identify.” Don’t underestimate the amazing diversity of Horse Flies. Some especially striking examples from our site are the only green North American Horse Fly Chlorotabanus crepuscularis, the American Horse Fly and the Western Horse Fly.