In total, the horsefly family has a little less than 4500 thousand species. These insects are distributed all over the planet. Bull horsefly came across even at an altitude of 2 km above sea level. They are absent only on remote islands and in Antarctica. There are 200 species of horseflies on the territory of the CIS.

Insects prefer places with high humidity... Horseflies are flies whose larvae develop in the aquatic environment. Some of the larvae are predators that feed on small inhabitants of the reservoir. Others eat rotting plant parts. For this reason, congestions of insects are usually observed near water bodies. Up to 20 horsefly species can be found in the same area.

On a note!

All of them are an important part of the ecosystem. Horsefly larvae living in water contribute to soil enrichment. A significant number of birds and animals eat adult horseflies.

Breeding features

Insects have 4 phases of development. For humans, only two are important: the larva and the adult - the imago. Eggs and pupae cannot harm anyone. The larvae are dangerous only for other inhabitants of the reservoir. Adult females pose the greatest threat to mammals.

Horseflies have a division according to the type of food:

• males drink only flower nectar;
• the unfertilized female also feeds on nectar;
• after fertilization, mammalian blood is required for the successful maturation of eggs.

At a time, a female of a large horsefly is able to drink up to 0.2 ml of blood: the norm for 70 mosquitoes. To get blood, she attacks any living creature, including lizards. He also does not disdain fresh corpses.

On a note!

Horsefly is so called not because he has poor eyesight, but because of his behavior while sucking blood. He seems to go blind at this moment, and it is easy to catch him.

3-4 days after the meal, the female lays from 500 to 1000 eggs at a time. During the summer, one individual can complete up to 6 cycles of "fertilization - feeding - laying eggs".

The period for how long horsefly lives in adulthood is limited to the summer months (May - August). The previous three stages take 2-4 years.

Why are they dangerous?

If there are no reservoirs within a radius of one and a half kilometers, the number of bloodsuckers will be much lower than near the lake.

Like all flies, horseflies prefer to land on dark surfaces. Their second habit is to fly straight up. Knowing these habits, you can make a homemade one on the site and significantly reduce the number of this type of midges within your territory.

In places where horseflies live, insect repellents or thick clothing should be used. Subject to simple safety measures, horseflies do not cause big problems for people. Livestock during the summer of insects should be grazed early in the morning and in the evening, when the activity of these large flies is reduced.

Many Russians have encountered these large flies that live in humid rural areas, but few know that horseflies and gadflies can be deadly to humans.

Blind

Horseflies, unlike gadflies, are equipped with a fleshy proboscis, inside which there are hard and sharp stabbing and cutting blades. That is why the gadfly bite is so painful for both humans and animals. On the skin in this place, compaction and redness remain for several days, a slight temperature may rise.

Only females drink blood, males use plant juices for nutrition. Unfertilized females also drink flower nectars, but they only need blood and as much as possible to lay eggs. Cases were recorded when, after being attacked by a dozen horseflies, a person ended up in intensive care and needed a blood transfusion. The bite of one horsefly in terms of the amount of blood taken, on average, equals the bites of almost 70 mosquitoes.

Carriers of infections

But the main danger for animals and humans is not that horseflies drink its blood, but that they inject their saliva with toxic and anticoagulant components into the tissues. Accordingly, the blood does not clot for a long time and continues to ooze from the wound even after a long time after the bite. But in addition to these components, gadfly saliva often contains nematodes and other bacteria. These large flies are the main carriers of such dangerous diseases as anthrax, tularemia, trypanosomiasis, filariasis, and on initial stage the development of infection, people usually do not go to the doctor, believing that the ulcers and invasions growing at the site of the bite are just the consequences of a horsefly attack. Meanwhile, the treatment of all these diseases, not in the initial, but in the acute phase, can seriously undermine health.

Therefore, immediately after a horsefly attack, you should press down on the bite site to reduce the spread of its saliva, cool the swollen skin with ice, rinse the wound with water and burn it with alcohol, brilliant green or iodine. If, during the first days after the bite, the redness and swelling on the skin did not subside, but on the contrary began to increase, then you should immediately consult a doctor.

There are about 150 species of gadflies, but 2 species are dangerous for humans, which are often found on the territory of our country.

Larvae of subcutaneous gadflies

Subcutaneous gadflies tend to lay eggs by attaching them to the hair on the animal's body. Further, the matured larvae penetrate through the skin into the body and migrate in the tissues, making their way up to the back of the animal, causing myiasis. And finally, the matured larvae get under the skin of the back, form nodules with fistulas and go out. But the animal remains alive.

But it should be noted that there are practically no deaths from the ingestion of the larva of the abdominal gadfly in the eyes of a person. The fact is that at the moment of spraying, the larva has such clinging qualities that once it gets on the eyelid or eye, it is simply impossible to remove it on its own. A person is forced to see a doctor and a medical operation is immediately prescribed. It is possible to get the larva out of the eye only by surgery, and the vision after that, of course, suffers. But the person remains alive, and this is the most important thing.

Horsefly is an unpleasant and even dangerous insect that causes a lot of problems for both people and animals. And not only with their annoying behavior, nasty buzzing, but also painful bites. How can you protect yourself from these flying bloodsuckers? The first step is to learn more about these insects, their habits, weak points why do they attack at all, etc.

bovine horsefly in the photo

Horseflies are flying arthropods from the Diptera family. Belong to the suborder of short-musted. The habitat is very extensive. Horseflies live on all continents, except Antarctica. They are not only in Iceland and Greenland. These flies are common:

• in Europe and Asia;
• in America;
• in Siberia;
• in Africa;
• in the Caucasus;
• on the territory of Russia and the CIS.

They are especially common in the forest zone, steppes, desert areas, near rivers and lakes. But the most popular habitats for horseflies are wetlands and cattle grazing areas. The activity of these flies is very high here.

Currently, science knows about 4 thousand. About 200 live on the territory of Russia and in neighboring states.

What does horsefly look like? At first, looking at it, it may seem that it is just a large fly about 1.5-2 cm long.But if you look at this insect close up or under a microscope, then its bright features become noticeable:

• Semicircular head, quite mobile and connected to the body by a thin "neck".
• Large eyes shimmering in different colors.
• The oral apparatus is a piercing-cutting type, which consists of 6 thin plates that form a fluke. He has and special education, with the help of which horsefly licks various sweet juices or quenches thirst.
• A fleshy trunk hiding sharp stilettos.
• Barely discernible small horn-like antennae (used for smelling).
• Wide transparent (less often - smoky or reticulate) wings with barely noticeable veins.
• A flat abdomen pointed towards the "tail" (usually with triangular spots).
• An elongated compact body with a thin chitinous cover. Moreover, in females it is more rounded than in males.
• Miniature halteres behind the wings. Thanks to them, the insect balances during flight and emits a characteristic sound.

As you can see appearance horsefly is quite specific. At the same time, the structure of the body and physiological characteristics allow him to eat both blood and plant foods. This insect has no sting. This fly bites with its proboscis and powerful jaws

The color of horseflies is inconspicuous: faded shades of gray, brown, yellow prevail in it. Thus, this blood-sucking insect easily merges with the environment.

Many people misplace the stress in the word horsefly. Sound emphasis should fall on the last syllable. Similarly, in the plural - horseflies.

Why is the horsefly called that way?

Until now, many people argue about where the word "horsefly" came from. Some believe that the insect got such a name as a result of the fact that it often tries to bite a person or animal in the eye. As if he wants to blind his victim.

But in fact, horsefly has good eyesight, which helps him find food and hunt. A number of entomologists even claim that this flying bloodsucker notices a victim at a distance of about 1000 meters. True, horseflies see mainly the outlines of objects and react to their movement. For this reason, horseflies are often mistaken with their prey; I go in pursuit of a car, boat or train.

Horseflies pose a great danger to humans due to the fact that they are carriers of dangerous diseases, as they feed on the blood of rodents, birds and dead animals.

Lifestyle and nutrition

As we said above, horseflies feel good in forests, fields, steppes, as well as in deserts and mountainous terrain. These blood-sucking flies like to hunt closer to water bodies, because there is moisture necessary for their life. By the way, the larvae of horseflies of most species develop in water. Adults, on the other hand, spend almost their entire life in flight.

Also, these insects, unlike mosquitoes and midges, love sunny and hot weather, therefore they are often active during the daytime on summer and warm days. These flies revive sharply before the rain, but in bad weather and wind they do not fly and do not hunt. The exception is gadflies, which can attack even with light precipitation.

Many people in vain believe that horseflies feed only on blood. The fact is that the males of all these flying insects are "vegetarians." They eat pollen of plants, flower nectar, secretions of worms, aphids, etc. Only fertilized female horseflies bite and drink blood. They need this liquid for procreation, or rather, for the development of eggs.

Moreover, for one meal, each female can suck up to 200 mg. As for unfertilized females, they easily tolerate the lack of protein food and are content with a plant menu.

During the flight, the horsefly can reach speeds of up to 60 km / h. This is comparable to the speed of a car driving through a city. Moreover, the average flight range of this insect is 2-4 km.

Reproduction

Caring for the procreation and breeding of offspring in horseflies begins in the warm season. The exact timing and duration of the breeding period is determined by the species of insects and climatic conditions habitat.

Directly life cycle horsefly consists of four phases:

• Egg. One female lays from 400 to 1000 pcs.
• Larva... Has a fusiform shape. No limbs.
• Chrysalis... It resembles the pupa of an ordinary butterfly.
• Imago(adult). Their life expectancy is short. This is usually one month. In rare cases, summer.

That is, horsefly is an insect with complete transformation. The total life span from the moment of laying eggs to the death of adults is 4 years. That's quite a lot. Many insects live an order of magnitude less.

The very same way of their reproduction is identical with the type of reproduction in other Diptera. Under favorable circumstances, heterosexual individuals mate, and after a while the female makes a clutch. At the same time, pregnant horseflies need nutrition with the blood of humans and warm-blooded animals.

As a result, after pumping blood, the female after a while begins to lay eggs in heaps:

• on the lower surface of the leaves;
• on plant stems;
• in water;
• into damp earth;
• along the banks of flowing rivers, streams, ponds or lakes;

The horsefly larva hatches after 3-8 or more days. Then she leads an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle, eating small mollusks, insects, worms or organic debris. Some larvae even practice cannibalism.

At the same time, I would like to dispel one popular "myth". He concerns the fact that horsefly can allegedly lay their eggs and or animals. In fact, this is not the case. Only a gadfly can do this. And horsefly lays eggs in water, grass, soil saturated with moisture and other places protected from direct sunlight.

As for the larval stage, it lasts about a year. Moreover, the larvae even manage to overwinter. Pupation begins in the spring. They crawl to drier places, where they turn into pupae. The stage itself lasts from five days to several weeks. Then an adult insect appears.

Why are horseflies dangerous?

First of all, by the fact that substances that can cause a negative reaction of the body are secreted during a bite:

• allergies;
• inflammation;
• irritation;
• increased temperature, etc.

In young children and sensitive people, edema, additional rash and severe redness often appear, accompanied by a deterioration in well-being and an increase in regional lymph nodes. In this case, the bite is almost always itchy and itchy. Sometimes a hard, painful nodule forms in its place, which disappears only after a couple of weeks.

But bites and the unpleasant consequences from them are far from the only problem because of which horsefly can be dangerous. Some of these insects carry infections and diseases. Among them:

• anthrax;
• tularemia;
• polio;
• filariasis;
• trypanosomiasis, etc.

Therefore, if after an attack of horseflies you have a fever or other symptoms appear, you should consult a doctor.

Gadflies cause enormous harm to agriculture and animal husbandry. Because of their activity, attacks and bites, cattle suffer. As a result, horses have a decrease in stamina, cows have a decrease in milk yield, and pigs may even begin to lose weight or slowly gain it.

Is there any benefit from horseflies? As you know, there is nothing superfluous in nature. These insects are food for many birds and fish. Therefore, a reduction in their number can lead to a significant imbalance in the surrounding world.

Many people ask if it is possible to get AIDS with? Fortunately, no. HIV is completely unviable in other environments, that is, outside the human body. Therefore, even if the horsefly first bites an HIV-infected person, and then a healthy person, the virus will not be transmitted. He simply cannot survive in these conditions.

Horsefly and gadfly - the same thing?

Of course not. These are, which also belong to different families. Gadflies and horseflies are different:

• structure;
• appearance;
• behavior;
• breeding features;
• food (for example, unlike horseflies, food is not needed at all and they do not drink blood);

Therefore, those people who call are very mistaken. Although both of these insects are unpleasant and dangerous. It is necessary to fight with them. Moreover, every farmer, gardener, fisherman, hunter and traveler should know how to protect themselves from such blood-sucking reptiles.

Horseflies are known all over the world as annoying bloodsucking insects. The need for blood is felt only by fertilized female horseflies, who cannot begin to lay eggs without it.

& nbsp & nbsp Class - Insects
& nbsp & nbsp Row - Diptera
& nbsp & nbsp A family - Tabanidae

& nbsp & nbsp Basic data:
SIZE
Length: 0.8-3 cm (depending on the species).
Body: compact, head and iridescent eyes are large.
Oral apparatus: prickly sucking.

REPRODUCTION
Marriage period: depends on the species; in Central Europe - in summer.
Number of testicles: 100-1 000.
Incubation period: eggs - 1-3 weeks; the development time of the larva depends on the area.

LIFESTYLE
Habits: fly silently.
Food: males - nectar and pollen; females - blood; the larvae are herbivorous or carnivorous, depending on the species.
Life Expectancy: from 3 to 6 weeks.

RELATED SPECIES
The horsefly family has 3,500 species. The most common are raincoats, lacewings, and horseflies proper.

& nbsp & nbsp The horsefly family consists of many species, representatives of this family can be observed all over the world. Horseflies have a short, compact body and a massive head with large bulging eyes that shimmer with green, red and purple colors that form spots and stripes.

FOOD

& nbsp & nbsp All horseflies support their livelihoods by consuming food in liquid state is nectar, vegetable juices or animal blood. Nectar and vegetable juices provide food for horseflies of both sexes. Interestingly, some horsefly species have very long proboscis. For example, the proboscis of the Indian horsefly is even twice as long as the body! Male horseflies feed on nectar, sugary secretions of aphids and worms.
& nbsp & nbsp Females of some horsefly species, like males, feed on plant juices, but for the development of fertilized testicles, females need substances that are present in the blood of mammals. Nevertheless, people mistakenly believe that all horseflies are harmful bloodsuckers.
& nbsp & nbsp The need for protein-rich blood of a mammal in a female horsefly arises immediately after fertilization, since the yolk, which is vital for embryos, is formed with the protein in her body. As a prey, female horseflies usually choose large mammals: cattle, deer, horses, less often humans. Separate types horseflies even feed on the blood of crocodiles and turtles.
& nbsp & nbsp The bites of female horseflies are quite painful, because these insects have very thick proboscis, and the wound from the bite is sensitive. By the way, depending on the size, the female sucks from twenty to two hundred milligrams of blood from the wound. So that the wound does not heal, the female horsefly injects saliva into it, which prevents blood from clotting.
& nbsp & nbsp Male horseflies of all species feed exclusively on natural juices.

DEVELOPMENT CYCLE

& nbsp & nbsp Horseflies got their name because, sucking blood, they do not hear or see anything - at this time you can even take it with your hands.
& nbsp & nbsp Adult horseflies do not live long, but it is almost impossible not to notice them. The full life cycle of a horsefly consists of several stages and is quite long.
& nbsp & nbsp Females of horseflies lay packets, which usually contain 100-1,000 eggs, on the wet surface of leaves or parts aquatic plants protruding above the surface of the water, in wet soil or in rotten wood. Long white eggs darken over time. After a few weeks, larvae appear from the eggs. The larvae of the raincoats live in the water, and the larvae of the bovine horsefly live in the soil at a depth of up to ten centimeters. The larvae have everything they need to survive, so the larval stage lasts quite a long time.
& nbsp & nbsp The development time of larvae depends on many factors: temperature, humidity and the availability of food. With a poor diet, the larva begins to spin the cocoon later. Horsefly larvae starve for several months and thus survive the winter. In arid regions, the larvae escape from drying out by burying themselves in the silt. After a while, the larvae prepare to turn into adult insects. Having chosen a dry corner, the larva spins a cocoon in it. The pupal stage lasts one to three weeks. After emerging from the cocoon, the insect spreads and dries its wings, and after three hours it can already make its first flight.
& nbsp & nbsp Males are the first to appear from the cocoons. Later, when the females hatch, the males gather in a swarm and fly over the water, feeding on moist alkalis and tree crowns.
& nbsp & nbsp Females join the swarm and mate with males. Then the fertilized females fly in search of the victim in order to get enough of her blood, which they desperately need. After a few days, the females begin to lay eggs.

BLIND AND PEOPLE

& nbsp & nbsp Horseflies are very common blood-sucking insects in the world. In large numbers, they are capable of causing the cessation of field work in the daytime. This situation is developing in some regions of Russia, where people sometimes have to work in the field at night to avoid being bitten by these annoying insects. The place of the horsefly bite swells and itches for a long time. Unlike the wound that remains after a mosquito bite, the wound that occurs after a horsefly attack is quite deep. Horseflies transmit infectious diseases such as tularemia.

BLIND WATCHING

& nbsp & nbsp Some members of the horsefly family can be considered the largest dipterans living in Central Europe. In summer, horseflies can be observed in many places - in the field, in a meadow, a forest glade, along roads and near water bodies. Females are especially aggressive before the onset of a thunderstorm. Most horsefly species approach their prey silently, but some species, for example, the usual puffball, announce themselves with a dull low buzz. Gadfly also emits a loud buzzing noise during flight.
& nbsp & nbsp

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

• Horsefly is the largest diptera in Central Europe, up to 2.5 cm long.
• Horsefly females that fly in search of prey primarily react to large moving objects, so they can attack not only livestock in pastures, but also a car that travels at a speed of up to 40 km / h.
• Horsefly females can sting people who swim in a boat at a distance of several hundred meters from the shore.
• Horsefly bites are painful, since the proboscis of these insects not only penetrate the skin, but also touch the nerve endings. The saliva that the insect introduces into the wound causes severe itching.
• Horseflies attack small mammals, monitor lizards. They do not disdain the corpses of animals in the first 2-3 days after their death.

& nbsp & nbsp

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF BLINDS

& nbsp & nbsp Body: compact, short, slightly thickened, streamlined. Short antennae on the head. Some species, in particular the bovine gadfly, reaches a length of 20 mm.
& nbsp & nbsp Male: the male horsefly feeds on nectar and pollen from plants. Some species specialize in rotten plants.
& nbsp & nbsp Females: the golden eyes of the female horsefly, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, do not connect with each other. With the help of the proboscis, the female easily pierces the skin of the animal and sucks its blood. One female at a time can take up to 200 mg of blood - as much as 70 mosquitoes.

ACCOMMODATION
Horseflies are common everywhere except in deserts. A large number of species are concentrated in tropical regions of the globe.
PRESERVATION
Horseflies inhabit almost all types of biotopes and everywhere annoy animals and humans. In some places, their numbers are kept within certain limits due to drought and a small number of animals.

Horsefly is a blood-sucking insect that causes significant harm in agriculture. Moreover, blindness is also very dangerous for humans, especially for children and pregnant women. Horsefly attacks humans, is a very aggressive insect and can infect humans with infectious diseases, since horseflies are very fond of eating animal corpses, which may have died due to infection.

Why is a horsefly called a gadfly? Because this insect for some reason seeks to bite in the eye, however, a person, like an animal, has time to close the eye before the bite, as a result, the eye remains intact, but the person walks for a long time with swollen eyelids and cannot see the damaged eye from for swelling of the eyelids. That is, it goes blind. That is why this insect got its name - horsefly.

Tabanidae Horseflies are found in various climatic and landscape zones, everywhere. In total, there are over 3500 species in the horsefly family on the globe.

Appearance

Of all the two-winged bloodsuckers, horseflies are the largest (up to 3-4 cm). They have a large head due to the size of their eyes, very beautiful, brightly colored - golden, iridescent with all the colors of the rainbow. The wings of the horsefly are transparent, sometimes with smoky spots, the abdomen is always flat.

Horsefly lifestyle

Horseflies are most active in June-July. Only sexually mature females are bloodsucking. Males and unfertilized females feed on the nectar of flowers, the sugary secretions of aphids, and the sweet sap of damaged trees. Fertilized females are very aggressive and attack animals and humans from morning until sunset. Both small birds and cattle can become objects of attack.

The corpses of animals in the first three days also attract horseflies, turning them into carriers of various infections. From close range, horseflies see and attack moving objects. In one bite, a female can take up to 200 mg of blood (about 70 mosquitoes can drink this much).

The metabolism of the female horsefly is very intense. With repeated bloodsucking, it is capable of laying 3500 eggs per season on plants, usually in non-swampy areas. The larvae develop in a moist moss cover, feeding on plant remains or in a predatory way, depending on the type of horseflies.

Females are not special vectors, since the causative agents of tularemia, anthrax, poliomyelitis, trypanosomatosis in horses and camels are mechanically transmitted to the wound.

Prevention

Of all the blood-sucking insects, horseflies are the worst responders to repellents.

To deter insect attacks, it is recommended to wear light-colored clothing, rather than dark clothing, which is more attractive to horseflies. After bathing, you should quickly dry off, because a damp and sweaty body is the target of horseflies. It is not recommended to set up tourist camps near cattle pastures, where there are always a lot of insects.

Treatment

Given the likelihood of infection of the wound with pathogenic microorganisms, it is necessary to immediately rinse the wound with hydrogen peroxide and apply a bandage with antiseptic drugs.