Subject: Interesting fly
Location: North Kingstown, RI
July 21, 2014 6:47 am
This fly (at least I think it’s a fly) was on my car in North Kingstown, RI on July 20, 2014. I’ve never seen one like this before.
I tried searching google images, but nothing came up that looked like this.
Can you tell me what it is?
Thanks,
Signature: Gary Brownell
Hi Gary,
The close-set eyes indicate that this Horse Fly in the family Tabanidae is a non-biting male. Biting female Horse Flies have a space between the eyes. See this Horse Fly eye comparison from our archives. A dorsal view would make species identification easier.
Thanks. I guess I’ve never looked closely at one of these before. It was the white eyes that caught my attention…
Gary Brownell
We believe the faceted eyes are most likely not pigmented white, but rather reflecting the light from the sky.
Interesting. They didn’t seem to change color as the fly changed position. Unfortunately, I only got pictures from this one angle, so I can’t be sure about all that in hindsight. But it was definitely the white eyes that drew my attention.
Thanks,
Gary Brownell
albino? There are other photos like this one if you search on Google.
Hmmm. That is a possibility. We would need to see a dorsal view to be more certain. Thanks for the suggestion.