The most common name is "cleg", "gleg" or "clag", which comes from Old Norse and may have originated from the Vikings. In general, country-folk did not distinguish between the various biting insects that irritated their cattle and called them all "gad-flies", from the word "gad" meaning a spike. The word "Tabanus" was first recorded by Pliny the Younger and has survived as the generic name. Robert Hooke marvelled at the eyes of a "drone fly" in his Micrographia (1665), perhaps the earliest accurate depiction of a horseflyĪpart from the common name "horse-flies", broad categories of biting, bloodsucking Tabanidae are known by a large number of common names. Horse-flies have appeared in literature since Aeschylus in Ancient Greece mentioned them driving people to "madness" through their persistent pursuit. They can reduce growth rates in cattle and lower the milk output of cows if suitable shelters are not provided. In areas where diseases occur, they have been known to carry equine infectious anaemia virus, some trypanosomes, the filarial worm Loa loa, anthrax among cattle and sheep, and tularemia. The larvae are predaceous and grow in semiaquatic habitats.įemale horse-flies can transfer blood-borne diseases from one animal to another through their feeding habit. The mouthparts of females are formed into a stout stabbing organ with two pairs of sharp cutting blades, and a spongelike part used to lap up the blood that flows from the wound. Īdult horse-flies feed on nectar and plant exudates the males have weak mouthparts and only the females bite animals to obtain enough protein from blood to produce eggs.
Both horse-flies and botflies (Oestridae) are sometimes referred to as gadflies. They are found all over the world except for some islands and the polar regions (Hawaii, Greenland, Iceland ). They prefer to fly in sunlight, avoiding dark and shady areas, and are inactive at night. They are often large and agile in flight, and the females bite animals, including humans, to obtain blood. Horse-flies or horseflies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect order Diptera.
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