Relatively few individuals have been captured to date. C. montanus is found from southeastern Manitoba to New Brunswick; it is widely distributed in the eastern USA. Larval habitats are associated with streams and ponds (Teskey, 1990).

C. montanus has been captured in modest numbers in forested areas in Ontario and Quebec. At Algonquin Park, it represented 14.5% (Davies,  1959) and 3.9% (Smith et al., 1970) of the catch.  Bennett & Smith (1968) marked and released 80 flies at this location, documenting a high (21%) recapture rate. Small numbers were also caught at Trois Rivières in Quebec (a few percent of the catch, Baribeau & Maire, 1983). The species is present, but rare in eastern Manitoba (Hanec & Bracken, 1964), New Brunswick (Lewis & Bennett, 1977; Thomas, 1980), Michigan (Strickler & Walker, 1993), and Rhode Island (Bartlett et al., 2002). Thompson (1969) caught only 40 flies (0.8% of the catch) using a variety of methods in New Jersey. In contrast, C. montanus was one of the common species at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre in Maryland (Thompson, 1972). French & Kline (1989) only mentioned the species in their study of attractants in Georgia. Teskey (1969) provides information on the biology of immatures and their habitats. Reeves (2006) dissected 38 individuals in South Carolina and found trypanosomes in half of them, , most likely Trypanosoma theileri.

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.

Bennett, G.F. & Smith, S.M. (1968) Phosphorous³² for marking Tabanidae (Diptera). Mosquito News 28, 559-569.

Davies, D.M. (1959) Seasonal variation of tabanids (Diptera) in Algonquin Park, Ontario. Canadian Entomologist 91, 548-553.

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

Hanec, W. & Bracken, G.K. (1964) Seasonal and geographical distribution of Tabanidae (Diptera) in Manitoba, based on females captured in traps. Canadian Entomologist 96, 1362-1369.

Lewis, D.J. & Bennett, G.F. (1977) Biting flies of the eastern maritime provinces of Canada. I. Tabanidae. Canadian Journal of Zoology 55, 1493-1503.

Reeves, W. (2006) Host-seeking behavior of selected Chrysops species (Diptera: Tabanidae) harboring Trypanosomatidae (Kinetoplastida). Journal of Insect Behavior, 19, 93-97.

Smith, S.M., Davies, D.M. &  Golini, V.I. (1970) A contribution to the bionomics of the Tabanidae (Diptera) of Algonquin Park, Ontario: seasonal distribution, habitat preferences, and biting records. Canadian Entomologist 102, 1461-1473.

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.

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

Thomas, A.W. (1980) New records for some Canadian horse flies and deer flies (Diptera: Tabanidae). Entomological News 91, 59-60.

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