Suffolk, VA on Aug 14, 2012

Deer Fly? Large one is 1/2 the size of my THUMB.

These are GROSS, they are aggressive and attack until you kill them. Slower then flies and daring! They bite and their bites really hurt, but sometimes they sit there looking right at you, even turn to look at you while you swat and kill them! Never seen these till 3 years ago!

22 Comments

Becky H Tampa, FL

They also appear to be territorial.

on Aug 14, 2012 · Like 0
Walter Reeves Decatur, GA

looks more like a horsefly to me...they are bigger than deer flies

on Aug 15, 2012 · Like 0
Becky Blair, NE

Ewww. Sorry you got bit. What is the bite like on the skin? Does it swell like a mosquito bite?

on Aug 15, 2012 · Like 0
Jim G Suffolk, VA

@ Becky (NE). No, ironic, the bites don't swell. They hurt and they keep coming at you My neighbor told me they keep 3 fly swatters at their pool, We keep one at the pool and one in the sunroom to pull out quickly near the table. It's funny that many of them fly into the glass of the sunroom and daze themselves for a split sec, then fly off. Anyway, the bites aren't like little stings, they really hurt. ** MY question is are these like cyclical in nature where we only see them ...»
for a few years in summer, then not for a while? I've never seen these before in my life till 3 years ago, including when I lived on LI and we had LOTS of horse flies at the beaches. (Walter) These are different.

on Aug 15, 2012 · Like 0
Marg C Middletown, NY

I had one of these dive bombing me the other day! he was huge!

on Aug 15, 2012 · Like 0
Becky Blair, NE

Thanks for the explanation Jim. I wonder if they've been brought in from another country, possibly China, in imports? That could be the reason you've not seen them before.

on Aug 15, 2012 · Like 0
Jim G Suffolk, VA

Marg: so I NEVER saw them till 3 years ago, now I see them here and on a recent trip back to LI, saw them there too. whatever we had at Smiths Point Beach were different and not as aggressive, but Walter is right, these look like Horse Flies. NASTY!
@ Becky: I said the SAME THING. Read once to spray some type of sticky spray on a black spray painted milk gallon container and hang it behind the yard. Black attracts them?? Pics I saw ...»
showed tan 2 sided tape, so I think the just like to go for the head! https://www.google.com/search?q=Horse+Fl...

on Aug 15, 2012 · Like 2
Becky Blair, NE

Yep, you never know what's been brought into our country via China and other countries that import their....stuff....to us.

on Aug 15, 2012 · Like 0
Becky H Tampa, FL

Becky, those of us in Fla. can name a few, along with other things from other countries.

on Aug 15, 2012 · Like 0
Becky Blair, NE

Oh I'm sure. Do you have any trouble with bedbugs in Florida yet? It hit one of the dorms at the University of Nebraska last school year. That's all I've heard about it anywhere near us though.

on Aug 15, 2012 · Like 0
Becky H Tampa, FL

Becky, I've not heard too much conversation about that down here, except that on the news. However, as it turns out, one of my neighbors returned from a trip w/bed bugs. He is a bachelor who tackled his problem by removing all his bedding to a large, black, plastic bags, throwing that into the bed of his pick up truck, and leaving it all in the Fla. sun to bake to death. The very idea of having bed bugs gives me the creeps!

on Aug 16, 2012 · Like 1
Becky Blair, NE

Yikes! Thank God for Florida sun, huh? They give me the creeps too. I remember a saying when I was a kid "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite". I never knew there really were such things! Creeeeepeeee!

on Aug 16, 2012 · Like 1
Becky H Tampa, FL

We always used that saying too; I always thought of it as a joke...........until I first began hearing about bed bugs in NY. Yuck!!!

on Aug 16, 2012 · Like 1
Becky Blair, NE

Yuck is right! I think I even said it to my kids when they were little. I won't be saying it to my grandbabies though. Nope!

on Aug 16, 2012 · Like 1
Marg C Middletown, NY

yes, we're having quite an epidemic here in NY. When customers ask me "where is the bedbug spray?" I step back and lead them right to it. and then I get the itchies 0_0
I will never be without a plastic mattress cover!

on Aug 17, 2012 · Like 0
Becky H Tampa, FL

Marg C...........too funny! I worked for doctors a good many years, and we had patients come in with all sorts of issues. But, when we had patients come in with scabies, I would itch all day long, worried that I'd get them. The power of suggestion and fear of sharing the same issue is strong.

on Aug 18, 2012 · Like 1
Becky Blair, NE

Well I bet you two can guess what I'm sitting here doing. LOL The same thing would happen when the nursed did the Lice check on the students.

on Aug 18, 2012 · Like 0
Becky H Tampa, FL

Yeah Becky, you can imagine how excited I always was to be called upon by the school to assist in a head lice check of the entire classroom my son was in. Yeck!!!!

on Aug 18, 2012 · Like 1
Becky Blair, NE

Oh my! I think I'd have had something to do that day. My hands never would have felt clean after that. (I have an OCD thing that my hands need to feel clean. Not to the point where I scrub my skin off, but I usually soak, soap, rinse and repeat before my hands feel clean.)

on Aug 18, 2012 · Like 0
Jim G Suffolk, VA

woo, you guys are bringing this to a new level! ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

on Aug 18, 2012 · Like 2
Becky Blair, NE

LOL Jim.

on Aug 18, 2012 · Like 0
Becky H Tampa, FL

Fun - E..................Jim. 8-)

on Aug 18, 2012 · Like 0

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Deer Fly? Large one is 1/2 the size of my THUMB.

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