Read about tabanids that are known as the beautiful, bloodsucking pollinators… and a general description from the Virtual Exhibit on Canada’s Biodiversity. Find out how populations vary in an on-going experiment near Ottawa, Canada and why few males are captured.

Find out how many tabanids are known from the U.S., general distinctions of the structure & behavior of horse flies from deer flies, and a typical life cycle of each, including insights into their control from Purdue University.

Discover more about the visual ecology of tabanids.

Learn about the veterinary importance of tabanids and their control as well as health risks of this group of flies.

Selected literature:

Alan, S.A., Day, J.F., Edman, J.D. 1987. Visual ecology of biting flies. Annual Review of Entomology 32: 297-216.

Barros, A.T.M. 2001. Seasonality and relative abundance of Tabanidae (Diptera) captured on horses in the Pantanal, Brazil. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 96(7): 917-923.

Mullens, B.A. 2002. Horse flies and deer flies (Tabanidae). Chapter 13 pp. 263-277 in G. Mullen & L.A. Durdan, eds., Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Elsevier Science. (excerpt)

Sasaki, H. 2001. Comparison of capturing tabanid flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) by five different color traps in the fields. Appl. Entomol. Zool. 36(4): 515-519.