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make out the pointed proboscis.
The largest of the three is sometimes known as
the Stable fly and it is not uncommon in Essex
often around farm buildings. I have taken it
on occasion in my kitchen. It does bite man,
but I have never been bitten. It seems to
favour domesticated animals. The second
species is similar to the first. It also
bites man and animals but again I have not been
bitten by it. The third does not bite man but
lives on the blood of cattle. It is known as
the Horn fly because of its habit of clustering
around the horns of cattle. It is not
uncommon in Essex but I have never taken it
except from the head of a rather puzzled
animal.
These three species do not transmit diseases to
man in Britain. However, in Africa, the
closely related and notorious Tsetse fly
carries the trypanasome which causes the often
fatal disease, sleeping sickness.
This concludes the account of the bloodsuckers
of man. There are other blood feeders that
direct their attention solely on to other
animals, ranging from bats and birds to toads
and insects.
For these articles I have drawn on several
volumes that should be referred to if anyone
wants to follow up this fascinating subject in
more depth.
British Bloodsucking Flies
Edwards Olroyd Smart 1939