Article: News Q&A: What I call deerflies, my friend calls horseflies. Which is which?(Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)

Q. What I call deerflies, my friend calls horseflies. Which is which?

A. Both deerflies and horseflies are members of the Tabanidae family. Flies in this family are stocky with characteristically large, multifaceted compound eyes. Adult tabanids have piercing mouthparts, and bite both humans and animals. Livestock may even be weakened by blood loss from these flies.

You probably already know that the bite is quite painful. Common names for flies differ around the country, but in general, horseflies are larger than deerflies, are more uniform in wing color, and according to some accounts, are more likely to bite the lower parts of the body. Most horseflies are ...

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