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Sticker of Large marsh horse fly
Bug card No. 2519 of 4,939

Large marsh horse fly

Tabanus autumnalis
Eats: BloodFlies and mosquitoesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The large marsh horse fly is a big, sturdy fly with a black body. Five pale lines run down its back like racing stripes. It likes marshes, especially near the coast.

Lives in
Europe, in marshes and even salt marshes by the sea
Length
1.6 to 2.2 cm (0.63 to 0.87 in)
Top speed
about 28 km/h (17 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Can bite
The female can give a painful bite to get blood. Wear long sleeves near marshes in summer.
What does it eat?
The females drink blood from big animals and sometimes people. The males do not bite.
For real!Photo of Large marsh horse fly
Picture by Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Large marsh horse fly about 2.2 cm long (0.87 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 4 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 14 secondsmoves 350 times its own body length every second

How big is Large marsh horse fly compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its body is about 1.6 to 2.2 centimetres long.

2

Unlike some horse flies, its eyes have no coloured stripes.

3

It is not as common as some of its horse fly cousins.

you asked

Most asked questions about Large marsh horse fly

?Does the large marsh horse fly bite?

Yes, the female does, and it hurts. She needs blood to make her eggs.

?Where does the large marsh horse fly live?

In marshes in Europe, often near the coast.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Tabanus autumnalis
Group
Flies and mosquitoes
Family
Tabanidae
Classification
Insecta > Diptera > Tabanidae
Lives on
Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Tabanus autumnalis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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