Hole Punch - _TNY_9442
I had a large visitor who flew in on our glassed-in patio and couldn't navigate out. This is a female dark giant horsefly (Tabanus sudeticus), Europe's heaviest fly.
It's really a shame that I couldn't photograph it in a way that show how really massive it was (body length 25 mm / 1").
One option would have been to lure her up onto my finger for a size reference, but since these like to bite cows and horses, I was a bit hesitant. I kind of doubt it would bite my finger, but if it can punch through a cow hide - I don't want to find out what my finger would look like!
There is a very similar, but rarer, species, T. bovinus, but this is a sudeticus because of how much of the third antennal segment is red instead of black.
Hole Punch - _TNY_9442
I had a large visitor who flew in on our glassed-in patio and couldn't navigate out. This is a female dark giant horsefly (Tabanus sudeticus), Europe's heaviest fly.
It's really a shame that I couldn't photograph it in a way that show how really massive it was (body length 25 mm / 1").
One option would have been to lure her up onto my finger for a size reference, but since these like to bite cows and horses, I was a bit hesitant. I kind of doubt it would bite my finger, but if it can punch through a cow hide - I don't want to find out what my finger would look like!
There is a very similar, but rarer, species, T. bovinus, but this is a sudeticus because of how much of the third antennal segment is red instead of black.