Band-Eyed Brown Horsefly - Tabanus bromius (#654)

I risked life and limb hanging out of my upstairs window to snap this blood-sucking horsefly that landed on the outside of the glass. It is a Band-Eyed Brown Horsefly (Tabanus bromius), in this case a female with its rather amazingly patterned eyes. You have to wonder if this banding on the eye serves any purpose, or is just decorative. It’s the female horseflies that bite, in order to get blood. Usually they go for cows or horses, but sometimes also people. Band-eyed Brown Horsefly is common in the southern part of UK, but rarely found North of the Midlands.