Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Tabanidae
Genus: Dasybasis
Common names: Horsefly, March fly,
Flies of the genus Dasybasis are large, fast, and agile, strongly built and have large eyes. The male's eyes meet in the middle. The eyes often reflect iridescent colour patterns. The tarsi (feet) have three pads instead of two.
Females of most species are anautogenous, meaning they require a blood meal before they are able to reproduce effectively. They can be a pest at outside activities as females habitually feed on mammalian blood and consequently diseases and parasites can be transmitted. The male flies are not ectoparasitic and lack mandibles. They feed on nectar and pollen.
The larval of the Dasybasis flies are predators of small invertebrates in moist environments, such as in mud on the edges of bodies of water, in damp soil, under stones, or in rotting logs.
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