''Tabanus'' is a genus of biting

horseflies 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 sun ...

of the family Tabanidae. 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. 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 sk ...

, 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 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