Deer flies are bloodsucking insects considered pests to humans and cattle.[1] They are large flies with large brightly-coloured compound eyes, and large clear wings with dark bands.[2] They are larger than the common housefly and smaller than the horse-fly. There are 250 species of deer fly in the genus Chrysops. Their distribution is worldwide, though they have not been reported in Iceland, Greenland, and Hawaii.[3]
Deer flies lay between 100 to 800 eggs in batches on vegetation near water or dampness. During the larval stage, which lasts one to three years, they feed on small creatures or rotting organic matter near or in the water.[1] After a pupal stage, they emerge as adults in late spring and summer. While male deer flies collect pollen, female deer flies feed on blood, which they require to produce eggs.[4] Females feed primarily on mammals. They do not enter buildings. They are attracted to prey by sight, smell, or the detection of carbon dioxide. Other attractants are body heat, movement, dark colours, and lights in the night. They are active under direct sunshine, hours when the temperature is above 22 degrees Celsius.[4] When feeding, the females use scissor-like mandibles and maxillae to make a cross-shaped incision and then lap up the blood. Their bite can be painful. Anti-coagulants in the saliva of the fly prevents blood clotting and may cause severe allergic reactions. Parasites and diseases transmitted by the deer fly include tularemia, anthrax, anaplasmosis, equine infectious anemia, hog cholera, and filiariasis. DEET is not an effective repellent.[2]
Predators of the deer fly (and other Tabanidae) include nest-building wasps and hornets, dragonflies, and some birds including the killdeer. They cannot be controlled by humans because insecticides cannot be applied in the sensitive wetlands where the larvae typically develop. Also the problem adults may have developed a long way from where the eggs were laid.[2] Trapping devices and protective clothing can help humans to avoid the annoyance of deer flies attempting to take blood.
References
^ abTownsend, Lee. "Horse Flies and Deer Flies". University of Kentucky. University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
^ abc"Horse and Deer Flies". Medical Entomology. Purdue University. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
^"Chrysops, Diachlorus, and Tabanus spp. (Insecta: Diptera: Tabanidae)". Entomology & Nematology. University of Florida. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
^ ab"Chrysops sp". The Virtual Nature Trail at Penn State New Kensington. Penn State University. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
…prolonged periods. L. loa is spread via the bite of the female Chrysops fly, also known as the tabanid fly (horse fly or deer fly). This vector breeds in the canopy of rainforests and lays eggs in muddy …
…following contact with infected animals or invertebrate vectors. Synonyms include Francis disease, deer-fly fever, rabbit fever, water-rat trappers disease, wild hare disease (yato-byo), and Ohara disease…
…following contact with infected animals or invertebrate vectors. Synonyms include Francis disease, deer-fly fever, rabbit fever, water-rat trappers disease, wild hare disease (yato-byo), and Ohara disease…
…with an acaricide, placing cotton balls impregnated with permethrin in yards, and culling the local deer herd. There is no antibiotic prophylaxis known to reduce the incidence of babesiosis after a tick…
…sand fly to mammalian reservoirs (typically rodents, sloths, marsupials, or wild or domestic canines) Humans are infected incidentally when they enter endemic areas. Anthroponotic (human–sand fly–human) …
English Journal
From Squirrels to Biological Weapons: The Early History of Tularemia.
, H H, J J, J J, .
The American journal of the medical sciences. 2018 Oct;356(4)319-328.
After George McCoy accidentally discovered a new infection in 1911 while investigating bubonic plague in squirrels, he transmitted the disease to experimental animals and isolated the causative organism. He called it Bacterium tularense, after Tulare County, California. In 1919, Edward Francis deter
Emergence of the arterial worm Elaeophora schneideri in moose (Alces alces) and tabanid fly vectors in northeastern Minnesota, USA.
Grunenwald CM, Butler E, Wünschmann A, Armien AG, Carstensen M, Hildebrand E, Moon RD, Gerhold RW.
Parasites & vectors. 2018 Sep;11(1)507.
Moose (Alces alces) are a culturally and economically valued species in Minnesota. However, the moose population has experienced a sudden, marked decline in their range, including extirpation in the northwest and a 66% decline in the last decade in the northeast portions of the state. Although the e
Screwworm (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in the United States: Response to and Elimination of the 2016-2017 Outbreak in Florida.
Skoda SR, Phillips PL, Welch JB.
Journal of medical entomology. 2018 06;55(4)777-786.
Eradicating screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), from continental North American via the sterile insect technique has provided huge economic benefit to livestock producers by eliminating screwworm myiasis. After confirmatory identification of fly samples from infested deer by the USDA Nati
… species and their black fly vectors is reviewed in relation to zoonotic onchocerciasis in Japan. … in Japanese deer (<i>Cervus nippon</i>); … Five other black fly species, <i>S. …