This is a common horse fly in Russell appearing later in the summer than T. similis. It is widely distributed in the USA with extensions into southern / eastern Ontario, and southern Quebec. It is characteristic of prime agricultural areas with drier soils and is a severe pest of pastured livestock (Teskey, 1990).

Leprince & Bigras-Poulin (1990) in Quebec, Troubridge & Davies (1975) in Ontario, and Magnarelli & Pechuman (1975), Magnarelli (1976) in New York, and Magnarelli & Anderson (1981) in Connecticut dissected flies to determine reproductive status and/or sugar feeding. T. quinquevittatus is likely uniformly anautogenous in all areas, producing eggs only after intake of a blood meal (Leprince & Lewis,1986; Leprince & Bigras-Poulin, 1988 ). Magnarelli & Anderson (1980) described preferred feeding sites (sides, belly, legs) and the frequencies of disrupted feeding (26%) on cattle in Connecticut. They identified 18 of 26 blood meals as having come from bovines, with the rest from deer and horse. The paper of Leprince & Bigras-Poulin (1990) contains information on the body size and parity status, ovariole numbers, etc. of 1,210 individuals. T. quinquevittatus is one of the very few tabanids that will feed on blood through membranes in the laboratory. Magnarelli (1985) had a 21% success rate in trials with 168 flies followed by the production of fertile eggs.

Leprince & Jolicoeur (1986) increased catches 9-fold in canopy traps in Quebec using carbon dioxide, without affecting the catch in terms of reproductive condition or nutritional status.

In the USA, T. quinquevittatus is the most abundant tabanid in large areas of damp pasture in Tennessee (Mullens & Gerhardt, 1980). It is considered to be an important pest of horses in Maryland (Lawrence et al., 1976), where it accounts for about 28% of the horse fly catch (Uebel & Bickley, 1976). In one study in Tennessee, it fed mainly on the lower body (82%)  of cattle (N=264 observations, Mullens & Gerhardt, 1979). Tashiro & Schwardt (1953) found it to be the second most abundant tabanid attacking dairy cattle in New York, taking an average blood meal of 86 mg (N=58).  The species has also been studied in New Jersey (Thompson & Pechuman, 1970), New York (Matthysse et al., 1974), Virginia (Allen & Pechuman, 1977), Kentucky (Burg et al., 1991), North Carolina (Axtell et al., 1975; Watson et al., 2007), and Rhode Island (Bartlett et al., 2002). Notes on biology are available in major references (e.g., Goodwin & Drees, 1996). Teskey (1969) provides information on the biology of immatures and their habitats in Canada.

T. quinquevittatus is capable of acting as a mechanical vector of livestock viruses. This was demonstrated in experimental studies of interrupted feeding with infected ponies for equine infectious anemia virus (Kemen et al., 1978), and with infected hogs for hog cholera virus (Tidwell et al., 1972).

Tabanus quinquevittatus

Allen, W.A. & Pechuman, L.L. (1977) New geographical and seasonal distribution records for forty-four species and subspecies of Tabanids from Virginia, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Cooperative Plant Pest Report 2, 887-891.

Axtell, R.C., Edwards, T.D. & Dukes, J.C. (1975) Rigid canopy trap for Tabanidae (Diptera). Journal of the Georgia Entomological Society 10, 67-73.

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.

Burger, J.F. (1984) Lectotype designation for Tabanus vicarius Walker and comments on Tabanus simulans Walker (Diptera: Tabanidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 86, 241-243.

Fairchild, G.B. (1983) Notes on Neotropical Tabanidae (Diptera) XIX. The Tabanus lineola complex. Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America. 57, 51pp.

Golini, V.I. & Wright, R.E. (1978) Relative abundance and seasonal distribution of Tabanidae (Diptera) near Guelph, Ontario. Canadian Entomologist 110, 385-398.

Goodwin, J.T. & Drees, B.M. (1996) The horse and deer flies (Diptera, Tabanidae) of Texas. Southwestern Entomologist Supplement No. 20, 140 pp.

Kemen, M.J., McClain, D.S. &  Matthysse, J.G. (1978) Role of horse flies in transmission of equine infectious anemia from carrier ponies. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 172, 360-362.

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.

Lawrence, R.S., Bickley, W.E. &  Mallack, J. (1976) The seasonal distribution of biting flies in St. Mary's County, Maryland in 1975 (Diptera: Tabanidae, Muscidae). Publication No. 904, Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Entomology 18 pp.

Leprince, D.J. & Bigras-Poulin, M. (1988) Seasonal variation in body size and the relationships among body size, parity, and fecundity of host-seeking Tabanus quinquevittatus females (Diptera: Tabanidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 25, 105-110.

Leprince, D.J. & Jolicoeur, P. (1986) Annual, intra-, and inter-specific variations in body size and potential fecundity of some Tabanus species (Diptera: Tabanidae). Canadian Entomologist 118, 1265-1272.

Leprince, D.J. & Jolicoeur, P. (1986) Response to carbon dioxide of Tabanus quinquevittatus Wiedemann females (Diptera: Tabanidae) in relation to relative abundance, parity, follicle development, and sperm and fructose presence. Canadian Entomologist 118, 1273-1277 .

Leprince, D.J. & Lewis, D.J. (1986) Sperm presence and sugar feeding patterns in nulliparous and parous Tabanus quinquevittatus Wiedemann (Diptera: Tabanidae) in southwestern Quebec. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 79, 912-917.

Lewis, D.J. & Leprince, D.J. (1981) Horse flies and deer flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) feeding on cattle in southwestern Quebec. Canadian Entomologist 113, 883-886 .

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. (1985) Blood feeding and oviposition by tabanids (Diptera) in the laboratory. Journal of Medical Entomology 22, 600-603.

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.

Magnarelli, L.A. & Pechuman, L.L. (1975) Ovarian studies of Tabanus quinquevittatus (Diptera: Tabanidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 11, 687-690.

Matthysse, J.G., Mock, D.E. &  Netherton, H.R. (1974) Seasonal flight period and relative abundance of Tabanidae (Diptera) near Ithaca, New York. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 67, 158-166.

McClain, D.S., Matthysse, J.G. &  Kemen, M.J.,Jr. (1975) Biological notes on three species of Tabanidae (Diptera) obtained during experiments on transmission of equine infectious anemia of horses. Journal of Medical Entomology 12, 65-71.

Mullens, B.A. & Gerhardt, R.R. (1979) Feeding behavior of some Tennessee Tabanidae. Environmental Entomology, 8, 1047-1051.

Mullens, B.A. & Gerhardt, R.R. (1980) Faunal composition and seasonal distribution of tabanids in three geographic regions of eastern Tennessee (Diptera: Tabanidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 82, 48-58.

Tashiro, H. & Schwardt, H. (1953) Biological studies of horseflies in New York. Journal of Economic Entomology, 46, 813-822.

Teskey, H.J. (1960) Survey of insects affecting livestock in southwestern Ontario. Canadian Entomologist 92, 531-544.

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. (1970) Sampling populations of Tabanus quinquetvittaus about horses in New Jersey, with notes on the identiy and ecology. Journal of Economic Entomology, 63, 151-155.

Thompson, P.H. & Gregg, E.J. (1974) Structural modifications and performance of the modified animal trap and the modified Manitoba trap for collection of Tabanidae (Diptera). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 76, 119-122.

Tidwell, M.A., Dean, W.D., Tidwell, M.A., Combs, G.P., Anderson, D.W., Cowart, W.O. &  Axtell, R.C. (1972) Transmission of hog cholera virus by horseflies (Tabanidae:Diptera). American Journal of Veterinary Research 33, 615-622.

Troubridge, D.A. & Davies, D.M. (1975) Seasonal changes in physiological age composition of tabanid (Diptera) populations in southern Ontario. Journal of Medical Entomology 12, 453-457.

Uebel, E.C. & Bickley, W.E. (1976) Tabanidae (Diptera) at selected sites in Maryland. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 78, 176-180.