---

Hi

Male Tabanus from hills in mid-Wales. Length 18mm. Undecided between T. autumnalis and T. sudeticus.

---

Surely sudeticus.

Tim

---

Thanks Tim,

I was put off T. sudeticus by the size, descriptions I've seen give a length of 25mm plus, so this seemed a bit small.

This is the first Tabanus I've seen here, of the horse flies we usually only see H. pluvialis (and more than enough of them too).

I've been reading around on them since posting, am I right in thinking that an obvious difference is that autumnalis should have three rows of light grey abdominal markings and would not have the reddish colouration to the sides ot the abdomen?

Another angle,

---

And a front on view.

---

I agree with Tim

It is a male, and males of these large species are distinctly smaller than females.
Moreover, sudeticus females range from 22 - 25 mm (dried), so there is no problem at all.

Theo

---

Thanks both of you,

Steve