100 more species #89: Deer fly
Deer fly Chrysops sp. Alex discovered this female deer fly feeding on Jim's head.
I've gone on record on this blog as being a fan of flies. They are a diverse, often colorful group, misunderstood and unfairly maligned. The deer fly, for example, is a valuable pollinator as an adult, and a harmless detritus feeder in wet soil as a larva. The adult female, however, has to feed on blood to create her eggs. Bugguide describes the process by which flies in this family feed on blood thus: "The "bite" of tabanids is effected by stabbing with the mouthparts and slicing the skin with scissor-like movements of the finely serrate, knife-like mandibles and smaller maxillae on each side of the proboscis. After capillaries are ruptured, anti-coagulant saliva is pumped out through the hypopharynx, and the blood is lapped up using the labella."
It doesn't feel as pleasant as that description makes it sound. One hatless summer journey to Ponkapoag Pond cured me of any love I might have developed for Chrysops. I also haven't been back to Ponkapoag. Maybe I'll buy some of these and visit again. I've noticed they tend to attack the back of the head--one imagines that it's hard for a quadruped to reach this area.
All that being said, if you get to see the animal close up, it is pretty beautiful. "Chrysops" means "gold eye."