common horse fly vs Forest Giant Squirrel

Haematopota pluvialis compared with Protoxerus stangeri

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	common horse fly	Forest Giant Squirrel
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Diptera (Diptera)	Rodentia (Rodents)
Family	Tabanidae	Sciuridae (Squirrels)
Genus	Haematopota	Protoxerus
Species	Haematopota pluvialis	Protoxerus stangeri

Evolutionary Relationship

common horse fly and Forest Giant Squirrel share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

common horse fly

LC — Least Concern

Forest Giant Squirrel

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	common horse fly	Forest Giant Squirrel
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

common horse fly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Forest Giant Squirrel

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

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.