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It is a tabanid. :) It was taken by my friend Art in Panama today.

Is it possible to know the genus at least?

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male Chlorotabanus sp., probably C. mexicanus. These are beautiful flies, no?

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thanks! if it is possible to know the species it would be great. :D

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all flies are beautiful... almost... some hippoboscid.. :o:@

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:o Amazing Tabanid. A Ghost Tabanid!

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it lacks to pass through the leaves. :D

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There is an almost identical species from the SE USA - C. crepuscularis.
Generally regarded as uncommon. But as it flies at night the females are rarely seen. However, baiting a Malaise Trap with dry ice (CO2) will bring in hundreds of females during the night at the correct season.

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It is indeed a male of Chlorotabanus. The species is difficult to see.
There seems to be dark dots around the crossveins, which would imply Ch. mexicanus. Ch.mexicanus is rather common in Central America.

It is nocturnal, that is why it don't care about colours.


Theo

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Tony - why is the CO2 an attraction? I thought flies avoided CO2 (eg they react to being breathed on in the field by flying away - presumably because they think they are going to be eaten or squashed by a mammal). Do female Tabanids equate CO2 with potential blood meals though?

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Why? - most likely because it leads to a food source. All blood-sucking flies are highly attracted to CO2; 'you may run but you cannot hide' except if you stop breathing - permanently.
If you can get a chunk of dry ice and take it into a marshy area on a warm day you should bring in 100's of tabanids. Locally it's not unusual to get several thousand tabanids/day using a CO2-baited trap in a sphagnum bog.

Thanks for thre det. of Muscina (my ?Phaonia).

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Several thousand :o Cripes! (as our new London mayor is prone to saying)

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Really, in some locales tabanids are numerous. When I am hand-netting and using my vehicle as bait (they love SUV's) it's a constant catch-put in vial, catch-put in vial, ad infinitum .................
Steve got 55,515 in one season; obviously in a poor habitat:D
SEE HERE

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And you can use aged horse urine if no dry ice available I see - can life get any better I wonder :p

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With the CO2 detection the horsefly knows the host is alive.
You don't want to suck blood from a corpse, it gets you killed.


Theo

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to attract tabanids it is enough to put the motor of the car working... :)

I know a place here in the North that is a paradise for tabanids. I will go there soon. :)

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Why? Because the corpse might have been poisoned perhaps?

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You are more likely to kill yourself than to attract tabanids:(
Engines give off Carbon Monoxide - a mammal killer. Tabanids respond to Carbon Dioxide - also fatal in high doses.

One source for CO2 is ice cream vendors, some use it to keep the ice cream frozen; especially those venors who have ice cream carts. Do they still exist in Europe - they did when I was a kid.

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hmm... in an open environment it is hard to happens that, i think. I'm thinking about the heating generating by the motor that could attract the tabanids. I know about the poisoning from monoxide carbon, but it only happens in close environments, I think. Carbon monoxide with hemoglobin forms a very highly stable compound known as Carboxy-haemoglobin, it has a greater affinity, much more than oxi-haemoglobin. Monoxide carbon inhibits the cellular respiration... and hence the danger for mammals. :(

About the ice cream vendors, yes... sometimes it is possible to see... but is very rare.