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Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Old Sep 13th 2007, 3:21 pm
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Exclamation Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

I was in the sunroom at the weekend getting a cat in or something and this thing about the size of a bumble bee was crashing around in the darkness.

It was a fly, about 1 1/4 inches long with huge compound eyes. Id never seen anything like it in ten years here.

Curiosity got the better of me, and after a bit of googling it turns out its some sort of horse fly! I had NO IDEA they could be so huge!

Not my picture.... I shoed it out of the house sharpish...I dont think I have a swatter capable of taking on something that size!



PS Whatsthatbug...great site as long as you arent squeamish.

Also at the weekend I found a very dopey blue spotted Salamander under a log, and while looking for a new home for it, came across a nest of huge fat millepedes...quite fasciniating, in a very creepy way
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 3:23 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Lucky it didn't make you into dinner!
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 3:26 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Originally Posted by G77
Lucky it didn't make you into dinner!
Too right, fortunately I read that only the smaller females bite, but I wasnt taking any chances
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 3:38 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!



No wonder they're called horse flies.

I think the most fascinating, 'in a very creepy way', thing I've ever seen was a hummingbird hawk moth in my garden when I lived in England. It looked like a mouse/bird/insect mutation. I had had a couple of gins when I first saw one and my imagination got the best of me and so I had to inside and hide.
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 4:03 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Cool,

My parents neighbour in the UK was an hobby entymolygist...he used to head out to the woods with his lantern and traps of an evening.

My aunt...who hates bugs of all kinds... absolutely freaked when he left a HUGE 3 or 4 inches long privet hawk moth that he had caught to sleep for the day on a branch that was dangerously close to where she parked up for a visit!

She didnt visit for years after that!
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 5:20 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

My brother had a run in with swarms of horse flies when we'd brought him 'up north' to the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec for his birthday one summer.... he and my other bro decided they wanted to walk to the top of Mount St Sauveur (sp?) and about 15 minutes after they left mum and me in the car, younger brother comes back slapping his arms and legs and scratching like mad... he had a few huge red swollen spots on his arms and legs and said he turned back when the horse flies started attacking them but my other bro being stubburn continued on alone.... When he got back to the car an hour later he was horribly covered in huge angry red welts all over his face, neck arms and legs... every bit of exposed skin had been munched on by these horse flies.

Suffice it to say that he never again asked to return to the mountains up north to celebrate his birthday. You got off lucky Iain
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 5:28 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Aye those bites can hurt a lot! I got bit by one in southern ontario when i was out hiking through a wood, as was said ended up with a red swollen lump on my leg. After that i made sure i was pretty well covered in repellant.

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Old Sep 13th 2007, 5:38 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

I've seen horse flies before of course,and donated a small amount of blood to their cause, but they are usually like 1cm in size or so, not this huge mutant giant bumble bee size.
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 6:19 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Originally Posted by iaink
I was in the sunroom at the weekend getting a cat in or something and this thing about the size of a bumble bee was crashing around in the darkness.

It was a fly, about 1 1/4 inches long with huge compound eyes. Id never seen anything like it in ten years here.

Curiosity got the better of me, and after a bit of googling it turns out its some sort of horse fly! I had NO IDEA they could be so huge!

Not my picture.... I shoed it out of the house sharpish...I dont think I have a swatter capable of taking on something that size!

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/images/black_horsefly.jpghttp://www.whatsthatbug.com/images/b...efly_ruler.jpg

PS Whatsthatbug...great site as long as you arent squeamish.

Also at the weekend I found a very dopey blue spotted Salamander under a log, and while looking for a new home for it, came across a nest of huge fat millepedes...quite fasciniating, in a very creepy way
During a visit to Canada last year, i was bitten quite badly by a horsefly on my wrist.
My wrist swelled up like a balloon(it was huge).
Agony!!!
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 6:42 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Originally Posted by sarah73
During a visit to Canada last year, i was bitten quite badly by a horsefly on my wrist.
My wrist swelled up like a balloon(it was huge).
Agony!!!
Just wanted to add another one I've not experienced myself but have heard about from friends, they are called deer flies (flys?) which are prevelant in the deep rural forests of Canada. I think they are about the size of a horse fly but they can carry lime disease and like horseflies, leave a large painful (and itchy) welt on the skin after biting. I think they may actually be a form of lice or flea as they live on wild deer and hunters are particularly prone to being bit by them.... gonna have to have a look now on Iaink's website link *lol*
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 6:51 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Just did a search on whatsthatbug website and couldnt find it in the results so did a Google images search and here's the image I found:

Actually looks like they are about the size of normal house flies, just the distinctive patterns on their wings that seem to identify them.
Attached Thumbnails Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!-deer-fly.jpg  
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 6:55 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Glad that sucker didn't bite you Iain. This is a pic of a bite from a 'itty bitty' horse fly I got a couple of months ago this is 2 days after being biten - very painful

If you're wondering why I took a pic, it's because I went to the doctors to get some antibiotics for it on the way to work & the doctor said I had to have a week off with my leg up - thought the boss might think I was exaggerating, so took a pic to show her

Sorry if the pic is a wee bit on the 'yuck' side
Attached Thumbnails Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!-horse-fly-bite.jpg  
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 7:10 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

yep thats about how my bro looked a day or two after the event, but all over him not just on his leg... really gruesome, doesnt help that the lumps are infuriatingly itchy as well as sore which leads them to start bleeding once scratched. It certainly made me become a fan of DEET insect repellent after witnessing that *lol* Mum & I were laughing and patting ourselves on the back on having decided to stay in the a/c car and listen to Enya 'Save the whale' CD while they trekked up the mountain
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Old Sep 13th 2007, 7:12 pm
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

Talking of gross insects and all that the other day I watched a dragonfly eat a whole wasp!
Hanging out the washing this dragonfly came and landed on the suspended bath mat and proceeded to stay there for about 5 minutes gulping down his lunch.
Managed to get it on film too
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Old Sep 14th 2007, 12:25 am
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Default Re: Holy Cr@p, I had no idea!

It's Deer Ticks that you need to worry about for Lyme Disease mostly:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/lawren/...edp-ppp7_e.asp

I went this summer to meet some of my wifes family boating in the thousand islands in the mouth of the St Lawrence and they had these warnings all over the islands about black legged ticks and checking yoruself and lcothing for them if you went out and if you got one on you you have to save it and take it to the hospital with you to be tested for Lyme Disease. Kinda ruined walking around the island/park as you were paranoid as to where you walked. You are pretty much ok on the paths but you can't go off trail or through long grass etc.
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