Horsefly
| Horsefly | ||||||||||||
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Gadfly ( Tabanus bovinus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tabanus bovinus | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The cattle brake ( Tabanus bovinus ) is occurring in Europe fly species from the family of brakes (Tabanidae).
features
Gadgets reach a body size of 10 to 24 millimeters, whereby the strong body has a brownish-gray color. The wings are also brownish-gray and streaked with yellow-brown veins. There are clear longitudinal stripes along the thorax . The abdomen has light, triangular spots on the back that taper off to a narrow light line at the end of each segment. The sides of the abdomen are more red in color than other representatives of the Tabanus genus . The compound eyes are greenish and have narrow brownish horizontal stripes. This distinguishes them from the similar horsefly ( Tabanus sudeticus ), whose eyes are dark brown in color. This species also has more clearly defined triangular spots on the back of the abdomen.
distribution
The distribution area includes Europe , North Asia and North West Africa . The species prefers to live on pastures and on the edges of forests and occurs up to an altitude of about 2000 meters.
Way of life
Like most horseflies, gadfly females require a blood meal before laying eggs. As the name suggests, the blood of cattle is preferred, but they can also feed on other mammals . The fly fly larvae live in moist soil.
literature
- HW Smolik: Plants and animals of our homeland . Neumann & Göbel Verlags-GmbH, Cologne, 1985
- Helgard Reichholf-Riehm: Insects . Mosaik-Verlag, Munich, 2000 ISBN 3-572-01088-8
