B R I T I S H BLOOD-SUCKING FLIES
B R A C H Y C E R A ^ T A B A N I D A E 99
of the head behind the eyes. This is black, curved, and verv long in the male,
pale and shorter in the female. The eyes in both sexes have a clothing of rather
dense, but very fine and inconspicuous hair,
and in the female, a narrow, dark transverse
line. The small frontal calli in the female
are often scarcely distinguishable.
The three females in the British Museum
were all taken in Cheshire in July 1911, by
Mr. H. W'omersley, at Abbot's Moss and
Delamere Forest. One of the females from
Delamere Forest was in the collection of the
late Colonel T. Jermyn, recently presented
to the Museum bv Mrs. Jermyn.
FIG. 3 2 . — F a l l e n . He a d .
Krober (1925, p. 82) gives the occurrence oiplebeius as north and central
Furope, m July and August.
Tabanus fulvus Meigen
(Fig-. 33 and Plate 27)
T. fuhms and the three closely related species plebeius, rusticus and nigrifacies
belong to the sub-genus Ochrops, of which perhaps the most distinctive
character is the presence in the female sex of two small, usuallv rounded
frontal calh, which are widely distant from the eye-margins (cf. cord2ger and
glaucopts). It may be noted that in fulvus these calli are not always distinguishable,
one or both being sometimes apparently wanting.
The beautiful golden
coloration will serve for the
recognition of the present
species—which is one of the
rarer of our British Horseflies—
though rubbed specimens
look very different
owing to the disappearance
of the golden pile. The eyes
of the male are densely
clothed with fine pale hair,
and are usually without
bands, though they have
FIG. zi.~T. fulvus. Mg. He a d .
r , an upper area of larger
facets. Brauer (1880, p. 170) describes the eyes of the female as " pale olivegreen,
with an oblique fine dark line and several almost black round spots "
The specimens in the Museum are 14 mm. long in the male and n to 16 mm
m the female, and were taken in June and July. Verrall (1909, p. 384) took
It up to August 17th.
Goffe (1931, p. 104), s^Ysf7,lvus " . . . has been recorded from most of
the southern and midland counties where there are extensive old bocrs the
males are usually taken by sweeping herbage on the margins of bogs, or are
found on flowers." Jones (1922, p. 41) noted that fulvus did not appear at
his pool in the New Forest, " preferring more open, heathy woods, or those
adjoining heaths." It has been recorded from Scotland and from Ireland, but
outside the New Forest it is decidedly uncommon.
T. fulvus is generally distributed in central and southern Europe, and is
also found in Scandinavia, Russia and Asia Minor. Shiraki (1918, p. 173)
records it as occurring in Japan, where, in the opinion of Japanese veterinary
surgeons, it possibly transmits a form of equine infectious anaemia.
Tabanus rusticus Linnaeus
(Fig. 34)
In the British Isles this species is uncommon, and decidedly rarer than T.
fulvus. According to Brauer (1880, pp. 168, 169) the eyes of the male in
certain specimens have a purplish transverse line at the junction of the large
and small facets ; similarly those of the female are either unbanded or in some
cases have a single narrow band. In size this species is much the same as
T. fulvus, though sometimes distinctly
smaller, the two females in
the Museum being barely 12-5 mm.
Verrall (1909, p. 387) states that
all his examples of this species had
been taken in Sussex, near Lewes
and Eastbourne, in July and September
; two of these specimens
are now in the Museum, where
they are the only British representatives
of this species. Verrall had
one record from Huntingdonshire
(Monks Wood), and rusticus has
also been recorded from the New Forest and the Hants-Dorset border.* Goife
(1931, p. 106^ writes : " Duncan (1837) [1836, p. 368] recorded it as scarce in
Scotland, but common in Cambridgeshire, but I am unable to refer to captures
in either place."
On the Continent the species is recorded as occurring in central Europe,
the Mediterranean and the Caucasus. A solitary female taken in Japan has
been recorded by Shiraki ^1918, p. 179) as belonging to a form of this species.
Tabanus nigrifacies Gobert
(Fig-. 35 and Plate 28)
This is the species named by Verrall (1909, pp. 381, 388^, and Gofte (1931,
p. 106) Tabmius {Atylotus~) latistriatus Brauer. According to Szilady (1915,
p. 95), who saw some of A'errall's specimens in the British Museum, \"errairs
T. latistriatus is really T. nigrifacies Gob., while the true latistriatus Brauer
is a south and east European and Transcaspian variety of T. rusticus Linn.
Szilady states that the two occur together oiily in Corfu.
* Mr. Goffe (in correspondence) tells me that these records are erroneous, and refer to a
form of T. fulvus.
FIG. 34.—T . rusticus Linn. He a d .