''Haematopota crassicornis'', the black-horned cleg is a species in the

horse-fly Horse-flies or horseflies are true Fly, flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect Order (biology), order Diptera. They are often large and agile in flight, and only the female horseflies bite animals, including humans, to hematophagy, obtai ...

family,

Tabanidae Horse-flies or horseflies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect order Diptera. They are often large and agile in flight, and only the female horseflies bite animals, including humans, to obtain blood. They prefer to fly in s ...

Description

''Haematopota crassicornis'' typically measures in length. It is generally dark in colour, and like most species of ''Haematopota'' it has three narrow, lighter longitudinal stripes mainly on its pro- and

mesonotum The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on ...

. The abdomen is greyish. The antennae are black.

Distribution

''Haematopota crassicornis'' occurs widely throughout most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, having been reported from the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

in the west, to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in the east,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the South, and much of

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

and the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

in the north.

Habitat

The preferred habitat of ''Haematopota crassicornis'' is moist woodland, with pond margins where they may lay their

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

Ecology

The males of ''Haematopota crassicornis'' visit

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s for nectar. The females suck blood from various

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s, particularly from large species such as cattle and humans. The larvae live in moist soil, largely preying on small invertebrates such as other insects. The adults are most active from May to August but they still may be seen through September.

References

External links

*
''Haematopota crassicornis''
on E Photo Zine

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5638223 Tabanidae Insects described in 1848 Taxa named by Johan August Wahlberg Diptera of Europe