Atylotus rusticus (Linnaeus, 1767)
(Four-lined Horsefly)

Atylotus rusticus (Four-lined Horsefly) may be included in 'feeds on' relations listed under the following higher taxa:

Atylotus rusticus (Four-lined Horsefly) may be included in 'fed on by' relations listed under the following higher taxa:

Taxonomic hierarchy:
SpeciesAtylotus rusticus (Four-lined Horsefly)
GenusAtylotus (a genus of horseflies)
FamilyTABANIDAE (horseflies, deerflies, gad flies, stouts, clegs, horsefly)
SuperfamilyTABANOIDEA (horseflies, snipe flies & water snipe flies)
InfraorderTabanomorpha (horseflies, snipe flies & soldier flies)
SuborderBRACHYCERA (short-horned flies)
OrderDIPTERA (two-winged flies)
Division Endopterygota (bees, beetles, flies, moths and other insects with wings developing internally)
InfraclassNeoptera (bees, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other advanced insects)
SubclassPTERYGOTA (bees, beetles, dragonflies, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other winged insects)
ClassINSECTA (true insects)
SubphylumHEXAPODA (insects and other 6-legged organisms)
PhylumARTHROPODA (arthropods)
SuperphylumECDYSOZOA (skin shedders)
CladeBilateria (bilaterally symmetrical animals)
SubkingdomEUMETAZOA (metazoans)
KingdomANIMALIA (animals)
DomainEukaryota (eukaryotes)
LifeBIOTA (living things)
NBNNBN (data.nbn.org.uk) has a distribution map for Atylotus rusticus (Four-lined Horsefly)

Identification Works

Handling & MagnificationAuthorYearTitleSource
Webb, J.A. & Smith, M.N. 2004 Atylotus rusticus (Linnaeus) (Diptera, Tabanidae) at the Long Herdon and Grange Meadows Reserve, Buckinghamshire Dipterists Digest (2nd Series) 10: 67-68.

Atylotus rusticus (Four-lined Horsefly) may also be included in identification literature listed under the following higher taxa:

General Works

AuthorYearTitleSource
Storey, M.W., Post, R., Post, C.K. & Chainey, J. 2006 Recent records of Atylotus rusticus (Linnaeus, 1761) (Diptera, Tabanidae) Dipterists Digest (2nd Series) 13: 21-22.

Literature listed under the following higher taxa may also be relevant to Atylotus rusticus (Four-lined Horsefly):

BioImagesBioImages (www.bioimages.org.uk) has 53 images of Atylotus rusticus (Four-lined Horsefly)

A distinctive ash-grey horsefly with pale green eyes in life. It is a slow moving species which appears more interested in flowers than biting people.

A very rare horsefly for many years confined to the Lewes/Eastbourne area in East Sussex where there have been a small number of recent records. Since 2000 it has been reported in the Central Weald (Stubbs, 2004, Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 17: p23) and Long Herdon and Grange Meadows in Buckinghamshire where there appears to be a thriving population (Webb & Smith, Dipterists Digest 2004 10, 69-71) and at Otmoor in Oxfordshire, (Storey & Post, Dipterists Digest 2006 (in press)).

Has been found around midday in hot sunshine feeding on the flowers of Wild Carrot and resting on the ripening fruits of Curled Dock.

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