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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Orthorrhapha » Tabanomorpha » Horse and Deer Flies (Tabanidae) » Horse Flies (Tabaninae) » Tabanini » Tabanus

Genus Tabanus

Classification · Other Common Names · Pronunciation · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited
Id request - Tabanus pallidescens Horsefly sp? - Tabanus My, what big eyes you have - Tabanus americanus - male Tabanus sp.? - Tabanus nigripes Horse Fly - Tabanus similis - male Tabanus — species ID? - Tabanus lineola - female big black fly - Tabanus atratus - male Tabanini - Tabanus atratus - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Orthorrhapha)
Infraorder Tabanomorpha
Family Tabanidae (Horse and Deer Flies)
Subfamily Tabaninae (Horse Flies)
Tribe Tabanini
Genus Tabanus
Other Common Names
Greenheads
Pronunciation
ta-bā'-nus(1) (ta-BAY-nus)
Explanation of Names
Tabanus Linnaeus 1758
name used by the Romans for a kind of biting fly(1)(2)
Numbers
>100 spp. in our area(3), >1400 total(4)
Size
8-27 mm(5)
Identification
diverse genus; examples:

The 6 views shown below should enable any North American tabanid (Tabanus, Hybomitra and other Tabanid genera) to be identified to species:
dorsal view of entire fly to show abdominal pattern
lateral view of entire fly to show leg colour
face view to show frons, calli, eye pattern, and palps
frontal/lateral view of face to show antennae, palps, and eye pattern
lateral view of face to show antennae, palps, and eye pattern
another view of mouth parts
wing to show spots (if any) and colour of wing membrane
Range
holarctic(6); in our area, most diverse in so. US, with only 30 spp. in Canada and Alaska(5)
Season
Throughout year in Florida; spring and summer further north.
Remarks
The 108 taxa (107 spp., 1 ssp.) are mostly southern (USA) compared to the mostly northern (Canada) genus Hybomitra. For example, Virginia has an estimated 53 spp. of Tabanus and 11 spp. of Hybomitra, whereas New Brunswick has 8 Tabanus spp. and 20 Hybomitra spp.
Internet References
Florida spp.
Especially useful for separating the black species of Tabanus in the SE USA.
Works Cited
1.The Century Dictionary: an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language
2.Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms
Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.
3.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
4.Catalogue of Life
5.Tabanidae of Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains 2: a photographic key to the genera and species of Tabaninae...
Thomas A.W. 2011. CJAI 13.
6.Thompson F.C., Pape T., Evenhuis N.L. (2013) Systema Dipterorum, Version 1.5
Contributed by A.W. Thomas on 16 February, 2005 - 3:39pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Chuck Entz, Nick Block, v belov
Last updated 10 August, 2024 - 2:34pm

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