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Can anyone identify this green eyed horsefly from Lesbos. Common and very ready to bite painfully as I know to my cost...

I canot match it to any images I've flound.

To my amateur eye it looks quite similar to Tabanus bromius, but that isn't recorded in the Mediterranean region as far as i know.

It looks a bit like a Philipomyia to me but I can't find any with banded eyes like this.

It looks a bit like a Silvius sp. to me but is much smaller than the S. alpinus i photographed in the Pyrenees a couple of years ago and that genus has spotted not banded green eyes as far as i know.

I'm probably looking at all the wrong characters, and may have overlooked an obvious candidate, so any ID help would be gratefully received!

31.5.11 c9mm Resting on car roof (they love to nip into cars as you get in and then try to you while you are driving..) and feeding on an umbel, Lesbos, Greece.

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on an umbel, before transferring to photographer..

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3 eye bands, eyes hairless, no ocellar tubercule, so Tabanus glaucopis group of species. A more front on photo of the head would help, but subcallus looks quite dusted and the frons narrower compared to glaucopis s.s., so I would suggest exclusus, but wait for Theo:)

Steve

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Steve, I would say the eyes are hairy.

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Thanks Steve and Stephane. So the consenis is Tabanus glaucopis, but the subspecies ID is in doubt? Sorry, I have no more images of these flies to help get closer, they were too busy trying to bite me and I was too busy swatting them away to get any more...

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exclusus is a full species, one of a small group of species which closely resemble glaucopis. The Tabanus genus contains well over 100 species globally but is not easily broken down into subgenera, so "natural" groupings are considered instead, eg bromius, cordiger, glaucopis, etc. each of which have a handful of species.
As for hairs on the eyes, maybe a slight "fuzz" but not long enough to place in the quartornotatus group I think, but I wait for Theo's opinion;)

Steve

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Many thanks for the extra taxonomic detail Steve. Will be interesting to hear Theo's thoughts if he sees this post.

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Here I am.

The eyes are hairy indeed.

It is Tabanus promesogaeus, formerly known as T. bifarius (auct. nec Loew !).

Nice pictures !


Theo

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Many thanks Theo for adding your expertise to this string. I missed this possibility in the gallery as the only images are of pinned specimens and the light has gone out of their eyes! I'll make sure i post these living fly shots.

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I knew I should have kept my optician's appointment last weekB)

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No worries Steve... and you got the Zeegers seal of approval on the Dasyrhamphis and Pangonius IDs. Many thanks for your input. I've already posted the confirmed IDs for the gallery to help others who might come across these in future.