Steve called out to me "Come and see the size of this and bring your camera!" I chuckled but said nothing. Bloody hell that's a big one! Neither of us had any idea what he was so I took these photos with my phone and posted them on Facebook to see if anyone could identify him. Many suggestions came in, Hornet, Horsefly, warble fly etc .. but checking out the photos and information on google none were the size of this chap. Another suggestion was a "Giant Dark Horsefly, " I'd never heard of such a thing but googled it .. and bloody hell there he was .. A "Tabanus sudeticus
Dark giant horsefly, Dark behemothic horsefly." "With a body length of approx 25 mm (about an inch) he/she is the biggest European fly. The dark giant horsefly flies in July and August and commonly feeds on the blood of cattle and ponies but it will bite man as many have found to their cost!" Thanks Steve .. "Get a close up photo of his head" he said!
Today the fly was again the topic of conversation with my father .. he had thought it was a "gadfly." I'd never hear of that either, so he sat with his book and me with my google looking for information. So it seems a Gadfly is not a specific breed/variety of fly, it is a name for a fly that bites livestock, especially a horsefly, warble fly, or botfly. More interestingly a Gadfly is also a person who annoys or criticizes others in order to provoke them into action. Love it and I will use it if I can remember it, my word I know a few Gadflys!!!!!
