Brook Floater vs common horse fly

Alasmidonta varicosa compared with Haematopota pluvialis

Key Differences

• Brook Floater is Vulnerable while common horse fly is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brook Floater	common horse fly
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Mollusca (Mollusks)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Bivalvia (Bivalvia)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Unionida (Unionida)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family	Unionidae	Tabanidae
Genus	Alasmidonta	Haematopota
Species	Alasmidonta varicosa	Haematopota pluvialis

Evolutionary Relationship

Brook Floater and common horse fly share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Brook Floater

VU — Vulnerable

common horse fly

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brook Floater	common horse fly
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brook Floater

Habitat

Native to North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found in United States. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

common horse fly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Brook Floater

The Brook Floater (Alasmidonta varicosa) is a species in the genus Alasmidonta. It is currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Native to North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

common horse fly

<em>Haematopota pluvialis</em>, commonly known as the common horse fly, is a blood-feeding dipteran insect in the family Tabanidae. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The species is recorded from Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, with a distribution centered in northwestern Europe, where it typically inhabits moist, vegetated areas near water bodies, woodland margins, and pastures. Female horse flies are well known as ectoparasites of large mammals, while males are primarily nectar feeders. Diet information beyond this general feeding ecology is not available in current species records. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.