Relatively few individuals have been captured to date. C. callidus is widespread in the eastern USA, but is confined to southern and southeastern Ontario and adjacent areas of Quebec in Canada. Larvae can be found in wet mineral soils on the margins of ponds and slow-moving streams (Teskey, 1990).

^† 83 of 87 flies were caught in a Manitoba trap which was used only in this year.

Teskey (1990) refers to C. callidus as a common species in southern Ontario, but this is not obvious from the relevant literature. The species is only mentioned once in Troubridge & Davies (1975) working at Caledonia, where it accounted for 2% of the tabanid catch. Baribeau & Maire (1983) appear to have caught only one specimen in two years of sampling at Trois Rivières, Quebec. Leprince et al. (1983) recorded six males at Mount Rigaud, Quebec during studies of male aggregation and sugar feeding. In the USA, C. callidus is typically a minor component of the tabanid community (Bartlett et al., 2002). However, in New Jersey (Thompson, 1969), and in Kentucky (Burg et al., 1991), it was the main deer fly captured. This species was captured in small numbers in carbon dioxide baited CDC light traps set for mosquitoes in Wisconsin (Amin & Hageman, 1974).

Hollander & Wright (1980) reported a blood meal size of 22.8 mg. Magnarelli & Anderson (1980) described feeding sites (80% on the head) and the frequencies of disrupted feeding (3 of 15 feeds) on cattle in Connecticut. Magnarelli (1976) and Magnarelli & Anderson (1981) documented anautogeny and sugar feeding in this species in small samples from the New England states. Teskey (1969) provides information on the biology of immatures and their habitats and Tidwell & Hays (1971) provide information on oviposition preferences. Sheppard & Wilson (1976) recaptured 3 marked flies at distances typical of most other tabanids (up to 1.6 km away from the marking point).

Megahed et al. (1972), DeGuisti et al. (1973) and Sterling & DeGuisti (1974) documented C. callidus as the intermediate host of Haemoproteus metchinikovi in turtles. Burgdorfer & Hayes (1990) discussed the potential role of this deer fly and other haematophagous insects in the transmission of borrelioses. Krinsky & Pechuman (1975) detected trypanosomes in this species in New York  but did not culture any specimens for further identification.

Chrysops callidus

Amin, O.M. & Hageman, A.G. (1974) Mosquitoes and Tabanids in southeast Wisconsin. Mosquito News 34, 170-177.

Baribeau, L. & Maire, A. (1983) Abundance and seasonal distribution of Tabanidae in a temperate and in a subarctic locality of Québec. Mosquito News 43, 135-143.

Bartlett, K., Alm, S.R., Lebrun, R. & Ginsberg, H. (2002) The horse and deer flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) of Rhode Island. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 95, 547-551.

Burg, J.G., Powell, D.G. &  Knapp, F.W. (1991) Arthropod faunal composition on Kentucky equine premises. Journal of Medical Entomology 28, 658-662.

Burgdorfer, W. & Hayes, S.F. (1990) Vector-spirochete relationships in louse-borne and tick-borne borrelioses with emphasis on Lyme disease. Advances in Disease Vector Research 6, 127-150.

DeGiusti, D.L., Sterling, C.R. &  Dobrzechowski, D. (1973) Transmission of the chelonian haemoproteid Haemoproteus metchnikovi by a Tabanid fly Chrysops callidus. Nature 242, 50-51.

Foil, L.D. (1989) Tabanids as vectors of disease agents. Parasitology Today 5,  88-96.

French, F.E. & Kline, D.L. (1989) 1-octen-3-ol, an effective attractant for Tabanidae (Diptera). Journal of Medical Entomology 26, 459-461.

Hollander, A.L. & Wright, R.E. (1980a) Impact of tabanids on cattle: blood meal size and preferred feeding sites. Journal of Economic Entomology 73, 431-433.

Krinsky, W.L. & Pechuman, L.L. (1975) Trypanosomes in horse flies and deer flies in central New York state. Journal of Parasitology 61, 12-16.

Leprince, D.J., Lewis, D.J. &  Parent, J. (1983) Biology of male tabanids (Diptera) aggregated on a mountain summit in southwestern Quebec. Journal of Medical Entomology 20, 608-613.

Magnarelli, L.A. (1976) Physiological age of Tabanidae (Diptera) in eastern New York state, U.S.A. Journal of Medical Entomology 12, 679-682.

Magnarelli, L.A. & Anderson, J.F. (1980) Feeding behavior of Tabanidae (Diptera) on cattle and serologic analyses of partial blood meals. Environmental Entomology 9, 664-667.

Magnarelli, L.A. & Anderson, J.F. (1981) Sugar feeding by female tabanids (Diptera: Tabanidae) and its relation to gonotrophic activity. Journal of Medical Entomology 18, 429-433.

Megahed, G.E., Sallam, F. &  Abdallah, R. (1972) Transmission of the chelonian haemoproteid Haemoproteus metchnikovi by a Tabanid fly Chrysops callidus. Journal of the Egyptian Medical Association 55, 478-490.

Sheppard, C. & Wilson, B.H. (1976) Flight range of Tabanidae in a Louisiana bottomland hardwood forest. Environmental Entomology 5, 752-754.

Sterling, C.R. & DeGiusti, D.L. (1974) Fine structure of differentiating oocytes and mature sporozoites of Haemoproteus metchnikovi in its intermediate host Chrysops callidus. Journal of Protozoology, 21, 276-283.

Strickler, J.D. & Walker, E.D. (1993) Seasonal abundance and species diversity of adult Tabanidae (Diptera) at Lake Lansing Park-North, Michigan. Great Lakes Entomologist  26, 107-112.

Tallamy, D.W., Hansens, E.J. &  Denno, R.F. (1976) A comparison of Malaise trapping and aerial netting for sampling a horsefly and deerfly community. Environmental Entomology 5, 788-792.

Teskey, H.J. (1969) Larvae and pupae of some eastern North American Tabanidae. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 63, 147 pp.

Thompson, P.H. (1969) Collecting methods for Tabanidae (Diptera). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 62, 50-57.

Thompson, P.H. (1972) Tabanidae of Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland. The second year. (Diptera). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington  74, 188-192.

Thompson, P.H. (1973) Tabanidae (Diptera) of Texas. II. Pine Belt species, Huntsville State Park; incidence, frequency, abundance and seasonal distribution. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 75, 430-435.

Thompson, P.H. (1974) Tabanidae (Diptera) of Texas. III. Post oak belt species, Navasota River watershed; incidence, frequency, abundance and seasonal distribution. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 76, 35-38.

Thompson, P.H. (1976) Tabanidae (Diptera) of Texas. V. Second-year collections from Huntsville State Park and the Navasota River watershed. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 78, 376-381

Tidwell, M.A. & Hays, K.L. (1971) Oviposition preferences of some Tabanidae (Diptera). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 64, 547-549.