Stiletto Face, Pt. 2 - _TNY_2597
This grey beauty is a female notch-horned-cleg (Haematopota pluvialis), sometimes also known as the common cleg.
It's a horse-fly and like all horse-flies, the females use their sharp mouth parts to cut open a wound (in humans or other mammals) and collect blood which is necessary for them to form their eggs.
The "notched-horned" part of the name stems from the first antennal segment being rather bulbous with a distinct notch in it.
The English word "cleg" has its origin in the Norwegian "klegg" and it is thought that it is one of those words which comes from the viking influence of old.
In Swedish, a horse-fly is known as a "broms" which is a bit confusing at first as that is Swedish for "brake", but it most likely has an onomatopoetical origin in the humming sound these guys (or girls, I suppose) make when flying.
This particular one was quite cool with me getting really close with the MP-E65mm without flying off - this is at 2.7:1 magnification.
I also have a close portrait shot at 3.9:1 showing those crazy eyes coming up later on.
Stiletto Face, Pt. 2 - _TNY_2597
This grey beauty is a female notch-horned-cleg (Haematopota pluvialis), sometimes also known as the common cleg.
It's a horse-fly and like all horse-flies, the females use their sharp mouth parts to cut open a wound (in humans or other mammals) and collect blood which is necessary for them to form their eggs.
The "notched-horned" part of the name stems from the first antennal segment being rather bulbous with a distinct notch in it.
The English word "cleg" has its origin in the Norwegian "klegg" and it is thought that it is one of those words which comes from the viking influence of old.
In Swedish, a horse-fly is known as a "broms" which is a bit confusing at first as that is Swedish for "brake", but it most likely has an onomatopoetical origin in the humming sound these guys (or girls, I suppose) make when flying.
This particular one was quite cool with me getting really close with the MP-E65mm without flying off - this is at 2.7:1 magnification.
I also have a close portrait shot at 3.9:1 showing those crazy eyes coming up later on.