Notch-horned cleg
The notch-horned cleg is a grey-brown horse fly with mottled wings and stripy, rainbow-coloured eyes. Only the females bite, because they need blood to make their eggs.
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Fun facts
Its scientific name means blood drinker of the rains.
When it bites, it adds spit that keeps the blood from clotting, so it can lap it up.
In males the big eyes touch in the middle of the head. In females they are apart.
Its wings are dark with lots of clear little spots, like a pattern of raindrops.
You can meet it in the daytime from late May until late October.
Most asked questions about Notch-horned cleg
?Do clegs bite people?
Yes, the females can give a painful bite. Males do not bite at all.
?Why do horse flies bite?
The female needs blood to grow her eggs. Males only drink nectar.
?How big is a cleg?
It is about 5 to 11,5 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Haematopota pluvialis
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Tabanidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Tabanidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- Common horse fly, Cleg
Where the facts come from
- Common horse fly (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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