CreatureData

Horn fly

Haematobia irritans (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedinsects

The horn fly (Haematobia irritans) is a species in the family Muscidae, order Diptera.

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Quick facts about the horn fly

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the horn fly live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the horn fly as introduced in 3 countries, and flagged as invasive in 1 of them.

  1. Uruguayinvasive
  2. Costa Rica
  3. United States

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the horn fly endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the horn fly classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderDiptera
  5. familyMuscidae
  6. genusHaematobia
  7. SpeciesHaematobia irritans (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Conops irritans, Haematobia cornicola, Haematobia ferox, Haematobia serrata, Haematobia tibialis, Haematobosca ferox, Lyperosia irritans var. meridionalis, Lyperosia irritans var. rufifrons, Lyperosia irritans var. weissi, Lyperosia meridionalis, Lyperosia rufifrons, Lyperosia weissi, Stomoxis irritans, Stomoxys pungens

Other names and names in other languages (9)
  • bodalka maláCzech
  • mouche des cornesFrench
  • ノサシバエJapanese
  • liten stikkflueNorwegian Bokmål
  • lita stikkflugeNorwegian Nynorsk
  • Mosca-de-chifrePortuguese
  • Малая коровья жигалкаRussian
  • bodavka maláSlovak
  • Mosca-dos-chifresPortuguese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the horn fly

Other species in the same genus Haematobia.

CompareHorn fly vs Haematobia exiguaHorn fly vs Haematobia meridianaHorn fly vs Haematobia minutaHorn fly vs Haematobia potans

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the horn fly an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the horn fly as invasive in 1 country: Uruguay. It lists it as introduced in 3 in all.

What kind of animal is the horn fly?

The horn fly (Haematobia irritans) belongs to the family Muscidae in the order Diptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Horn fly (Haematobia irritans). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/horn-fly

MLA

“Horn fly (Haematobia irritans).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/horn-fly.

BibTeX
@misc{horn_fly_2026,
  title = {Horn fly (Haematobia irritans)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/horn-fly},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}