Relatively few individuals have been captured to date. C. frigidus is widespread in Canada and the USA, with a transcontinental distribution, but it is rarely a pest. It is most common in swampy woodlands. Larvae can be found in a great variety of wetland habitats (Teskey, 1990).

This species was the most common deer fly captured at Algonquin Park in Ontario by Smith et al. (1970); it was uncommon in a survey conducted a decade earlier by Davies (1959). Bennett & Smith (1968) marked 98 flies at the same location, and recorded a recapture rate of 8.1%. The species was also the most common deer fly captured in a farming area near Guelph (Golini & Wright, 1978) where it was found in areas with wetter soils. Teskey (1960), also collecting near Guelph, caught small numbers. C. frigidus was the most common deer fly encountered at Trois Rivières in Quebec by Baribeau & Maire (1983a,b), but was uncommon in the subarctic at Lake Delorme. McElligott & Lewis (1998) captured only 2 C. frigidus out of 728 deer flies in another study in the subarctic at Iron Arm Fen, Labrador. In Manitoba, the species is moderately common with a northern distribution (Miller, 1951; James, 1952; Hanec & Bracken, 1964). The species is widespread, but relatively rare in western Canada (Cameron, 1926; Thomas 1970, 1973). C. frigidus is the second most common deer fly recorded in the Maritimes (Lewis & Bennett, 1977). Along with many other species, Browne & Bennett (1980), working in New Brunswick, studied this species responses to colours and shapes. Chrysops frigidus is common in Rhode Island (Bartlett et al., 2002); in other areas of the northern USA it is a minor component of the deer fly community (Thompson, 1969; Philip et al., 1973; Magnarelli, 1976; Lake & Burger, 1981; Magnarelli & Anderson, 1981; Strickler & Walker, 1993).

Magnarelli & Anderson (1980) described feeding sites for 85 flies feeding of on cattle (82% on the head) in Connecticut. They also identified 8 blood meals, 5 from rabbit and 3 from dog.

McElligott & Lewis (1998) studied larval biology in a subarctic Labrador peatland, but only managed to collect 15 C. frigidus out of 357 Chrysopsinae. Baribeau & Maire (1983b) collected mainly C. frigidus larvae in bogs in southern Quebec, despite the capture of 21 species of Chrysops in traps. Teskey (1969) provides information on the biology of immatures and their habitats. McCreadie et al. (1984) caught 2 of 29 blood-fed individuals in a trap baited with cattle in Newfoundland. McCreadie and Colbo (1985) captured a few individuals in subarctic Labrador.

Thomas & Gooding (1976), Thomas et al. (1976), and Gooding et al. (1977) studied the properties of the digestive enzyme trypsin relative to other flies. Krinsky & Pechuman (1975) did not detect trypanosomes in this species in New York (sample sizes were not tabulated).

Chrysops frigidus

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