---
title: "Black Horse Fly"
description: "Tabanus atratus — Insetos e aranhas. Tabanus is a genus of biting horseflies of the family Tabanidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pt/animal/black-horse-fly
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Black Horse Fly

> Tabanus atratus — Insetos e aranhas. Tabanus is a genus of biting horseflies of the family Tabanidae.

- Scientific name: *Tabanus atratus*
- Category: `insects` (Insetos e aranhas)
- Habitats: `farm` (Quinta)
- iNaturalist observations: 13509
- Wikidata: [Q14361827](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14361827)
- iNaturalist taxon: [116680](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/116680)

## Names

- en: Black Horse Fly
- fr: Mouche à cheval

## Countries with the most observations

US (10023), CA (868)

## Summary

Tabanus is a genus of biting horseflies of the family Tabanidae. Females have scissor-like mouthparts that are able to penetrate the skin of livestock animals. The horsefly can then extract and ingest the animal's blood. Horseflies of this genus are known to be potential vectors of anthrax, worms and trypanosomes. Some species, such as Tabanus bovinus, prefer bovine animals and are less harmful to humans. The genus contains hundreds of species and many species groups.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabanus

## Photo

![Black Horse Fly](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/black-horse-fly/medium.jpg)

Photo: Sam Droege · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/384356

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/black-horse-fly?lang=pt` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).