''Tabanus'' is a genus of biting horseflies of the 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 su ...

. Females have scissor-like

mouthparts Mouthparts may refer to: * The parts of a mouth ** Arthropod mouthparts *** Insect mouthparts {{disambig ...

that aim to cut the skin. The horsefly can then lap up the

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in th ...

. Horseflies of this genus are known to be potential vectors of

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The s ...

, worms and trypanosomes. Some species, such as ''

Tabanus bovinus ''Tabanus bovinus'', sometimes called the pale giant horse-fly, is a species of biting horse-fly. As the scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") o ...

'', prefer

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship be ...

animals and are less harmful to humans. The genus contains hundreds of species and many species groups.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2720956 Tabanidae Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Brachycera genera

See also

References