Is this a bee or fly? - Ask Extension
We were just in Central Oregon and saw this bug on the grill of our truck when we arrived home. I've been looking online to try to identify the type o...
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Is this a bee or fly? #473944
Asked July 28, 2018, 2:51 AM EDT
We were just in Central Oregon and saw this bug on the grill of our truck when we arrived home. I've been looking online to try to identify the type of bee it was but I also saw that some flies can mimic the appearance of bees. Is this some sort of horse fly? Or maybe a bee? It was extraordinarily large in size and we saw many of them in the Camp Sherman area.
Benton County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi there,
This is a horse fly, Tabanidae. I believe that it is in the genus Tabanus, but flies are very difficult to identify from images.
They will bite mammals for blood-feeding, their mouth parts can be very painful.
This is a horse fly, Tabanidae. I believe that it is in the genus Tabanus, but flies are very difficult to identify from images.
They will bite mammals for blood-feeding, their mouth parts can be very painful.
