Equine Diptera Traditional Cache

One of a series of caches along Sterling Creek. Caches ARE NOT accessible from land, all caches were placed and accessible from a kayak at HIGH TIDE. Caches will probably not be retrievable at any time other than high tide, ensure you check local tide charts when planning your adventure!

Horse flies varying in length from about ½ to 1 ¼ inches long, are black or gray in color and often have large, brilliant green eyes. The blood feeding female horse fly is equipped with blade-like mouthparts, which slash tissues and blood vessels and cause blood to flow to wounds. Females then use their sponge-like mouthparts for sucking up blood. Males only feed on pollen and nectar and have similar, but much weaker mouthparts. All horse flies have antennae that are shorter than the head.

Horse flies are similar to deer flies, and both are in the family Tabanidae. The two ways to tell them apart is to look at their overall size and their wings. Horse flies tend to be much larger with a stouter body and a very large head with very large eyes. Their wings are usually clear or cloudy whereas deer flies have dark bands or spots across their wings.