Chained Horse Fly

Tabanus catenatus · Order: Diptera · Family: Tabanidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Chained Horse Fly
Photo: oksanaetal, CC BY

The chained horse fly is a large insect, about 19 to 25 mm in length. It is native to the eastern United States and southeastern Canada.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

It measures roughly 19 to 25 mm long.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It occurs in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 15 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maine, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Chained Horse Fly photo 2
Photo: whiteclover, CC BY
Chained Horse Fly photo 3
Photo: Jake McCumber, CC BY
Chained Horse Fly photo 4
Photo: Even Dankowicz, CC BY
Chained Horse Fly photo 5
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Same family (Tabanidae)

Black Horse FlyBlack Horse FlyTabanus atratusCan biteBeautiful Deer FlyBeautiful Deer FlyChrysops callidusCan biteStriped Horse FlyStriped Horse FlyTabanus lineolaCan biteTabanus sulcifronsTabanus sulcifronsTwin-lobed Deer FlyTwin-lobed Deer FlyChrysops relictusSplayed Deer FlySplayed Deer FlyChrysops caecutiensCan bite

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabanus_catenatus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.