Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Tabanidae Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Diptera Subfamily Tabaninae | |
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Similar Hybomitra montana, Hybomitra bimaculata, Tabanus maculicornis | ||
Hybomitra aterrima is a species of horse fly in the family Tabanidae.
Contents
Description
Hybomitra aterrima can reach a length of 13–16 millimetres (0.51–0.63 in). The body is black and the wings are transparent, with a small dark spot at the base of R4.
The compound eyes are well developed in both sexes. They have an iridescent light green pigmentation, with three blue-reddish transversal bands.
Males of these horse flies feed on plant juices, while female are bloodsuckers, feeding mainly on mammalian blood, as they require a blood meal before they are able to reproduce. They may be very annoying for cattle, but usually they do not bite people.
Distribution
This species can be found in Austria, Bosnia, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Spain and Switzerland.