Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Diptera (True flies) ➔ Family Tabanidae (Clegs, deer flies, horse flies)

Tabanus autumnalis Linnaeus, 1761

Large Marsh Horsefly

Synonyms and other combinations:

Tabanus auctumnalis Zeller, 1842 | Tabanus bovinus Harris, 1776 | Tabanus brunnescens Szilady, 1914 | Tabanus molestans Becker, 1914 |

  • Tabanus autumnalis, male 1112
    Tabanus autumnalis Linnaeus, 1761    Large Marsh Horsefly 
    Tabanus autumnalis, male
    ES, Mallorca, S'Albufera; 2009-09-19 11:34:42
    Image number: 1112
    male
    ES, Mallorca, S'Albufera
    2009-09-19 11:34:42
  • Tabanus autumnalis, male 1113
    Tabanus autumnalis Linnaeus, 1761    Large Marsh Horsefly 
    Tabanus autumnalis, male
    ES, Mallorca, S'Albufera; 2009-09-19 11:34:04
    Image number: 1113
    male
    ES, Mallorca, S'Albufera
    2009-09-19 11:34:04
  • Tabanus autumnalis, male 1114
    Tabanus autumnalis Linnaeus, 1761    Large Marsh Horsefly 
    Tabanus autumnalis, male
    ES, Mallorca, S'Albufera; 2009-09-19 11:33:52
    Image number: 1114
    male
    ES, Mallorca, S'Albufera
    2009-09-19 11:33:52

Classification:
Tabanus autumnalis belongs to the subfamily Tabaninae.
Distribution:
Europe, Asia, North Africa.
Habitat:
Swampy lowlands, moors, coastal marshes.
Tabanus autumnalis is a salt tolerant species.
Description:
Body length 16 – 22 mm; wing length 13 - 16 mm; predominantly grey or black; abdomen with 3 rows of light patches; compound eyes monochrome, without bands, hairless or with tiny hairs; eyes separated in females, meeting in males; in the males ommatidia in the upper 2/3 to 3/4 of the eyes 3 to 4 times larger than in the lower part.
Biology:
The Large Marsh Horsefly Tabanus autumnalis flies from Mai to August/September.
As with other species of the genus, the males feed on nectar and plant sap. Only the females bite because they need a blood meal for the development of eggs. The larvae develop in muddy ditches and slowly flowing waters.

References, further reading, links:
  1. Pape T. & Thompson F.C. (eds) (2017). Systema Dipterorum (version 2.0, Jan 2011). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2017 Annual Checklist (Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J., Penev L., eds.). Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2017. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-884X.
  2. E. Völlger, M. Jeremies: Bestimmungsschlüssel für mitteleuropäische Bremsen (Dipt., Tabanidae), Entomologische Nachrichten und Berichte, 29, 1985/1, 1-11.
  3. Stjepan Krčmar, Davorka K. Hackenberger, Branimir K. Hackenberger: Key to the horse flies fauna of Croatia (Diptera, Tabanidae); Periodicum Biologorum, Vol. 113, Suppl 2, 2011, ISSN 0031-5362.
  4. Markus J. Mally: Die Bremsen-Fauna des Burgenlandes, nebst Angaben zur Biologie der Spezies (Diptera, Tabanidae), Zeitschrift der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Österr. Entomologen, 35. Jg., 1/2, 1983, 55-60.
  5. Martin Grassberger: Tabanidae (Bremsen), in: H. Aspöck (Hrsg.): Krank durch Arthropoden, Denisia 30 (2010): 261–266.