They don't have proboscis.............they have a pair of mandibles like small sickle shaped scissors which slice through the skin really easy...............'cos they are damned sharp. I like Marmite when spread thinly............. .......too thick and it make my shirts stick to me.............. .......as for lemon, all my white T shirts have turned brown........ .......something to with the heat
I was once strolling along the banks of a Swiss stream with wife, daughter and a Swiss friend, when I was set upon by a marauding band of Swiss mega-mozzies. They ignored everyone else, settled on my white T shirt and feasted themselves on my English blood right through the T shirt... :/
The great advantage of horseflies is that they are slow and very easy to kill. If one bites you at least you can avenge yourself by squashing the bastard. For all insect bites, rub the affected area with plantain leaves. A common weed, you're bound to have some growing within a few feet of you. It really does work although if you are allergic to the particular bite you may need something stronger. Don't waste any time: apply immediately.
Just do a Google search to establish whether they are slow or fast. Copied from Wikipedia and appears not to mention UK species.
They have evolved to feed off horses, which are not well equipped to swat them except with a swishing tail, so they don't bother with stealth, like delicate mosquitos. Instead they tend to rely on their swishing horse-tail proof armour plating to see them through. So, in one sense they are easy to kill because they do tend to just sit there drinking your blood but in my experience, a simple swat won't kill them, they'll just shrug that off. You need to hit them really hard with something fairly solid to polish one off properly.
All of the horsefly bites (three, now), the buggers have bit me as they landed....Awful quick IMO......trouble is, if you don't see them land you don't stand much chance of avoiding them slicing through the skin and into the flesh.........The last one left a straight cut approx 3mm long..........
Second time in approx two weeks..........b*****d got the left arm near the wrist yesterday....... .......this one hung on despite getting whacked twice. Whole forearm is swollen within 24 hours.......that's despite starting anti-biotics an hour after it got me. .....See? I told you everything that stings and bites goes for me........and I don't even look like a damn horse.
Where are you when you are getting bitten ? In a field near horses or do they track you down from afar ?
No horses in fields other than a mile away.......... I reckon they have got spy flys out there......... "There's AL......Get him"
Insects love Mel as well. His bites usually goes septic very quickly. We are in Spain at the moment and he leaves the villa doused in Jungle Formula (deet) and deet wrist / ankle bands and still he gets bitten. But the Spanish pharmacy have given him an over the counter antibiotic cream which is stopping them going septic. Not tried the lemon so will tomorrow.
Yea yeah, that tallies with my experience. The bastards are armour plated, so just shrug off a less than serious swat.
