common horse fly vs Long-tailed Sylph

Haematopota pluvialis compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	common horse fly	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Diptera (Diptera)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Tabanidae	Trochilidae
Genus	Haematopota	Aglaiocercus
Species	Haematopota pluvialis	Aglaiocercus kingii

Evolutionary Relationship

common horse fly and Long-tailed Sylph share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

common horse fly

LC — Least Concern

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	common horse fly	Long-tailed Sylph
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.

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

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.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway