Common Horse Fly, Haematopota pluvialis, female

---

Haematopota pluvialis, the Common Horse Fly or 'Notch-horned Cleg Fly', is a species belonging to the family Tabanidae subfamily Tabaninae. These Horse Flies can be encountered during the daylight hours from late May through late October. The males are harmless and feed on nectar, while the females, see picture, feed on mammal blood (hematophagy) (hence the Latin name Haematopota pluvialis, literally meaning 'blooddrinker of the rains'), mainly cattle and horses, needing blood for developing eggs. When they bite they inject fluids inhibiting the coagulation of blood, which flows out in such a way that allows the horsefly to lap it. They are also able to bite people painfully. Females lay their eggs at the base of grass-stems or on the surface of moist soil.

---

Size: 3147px × 2026px
Location:
Photo credit: © VBrockhaus / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: bloodsucker, bloodsuckers, bremse, bremsen, cleg, common, flies, fly, gadflies, gadfly, haematopota, horse, notch-horned, parasit, parasite, parasiten, parasites, pluvialis, regenbremse, regenbremsen