Osca lata

Osca lata · Order: Diptera · Family: Tabanidae

Can bite. Females bite mammals to obtain blood for egg production.

Source: Wikipedia

Osca lata
Photo: Nicolas Olejnik, CC BY

Osca lata is a large horse fly about 2 cm long with a bright reddish-orange stripe on its thorax and abdomen. It lives in southern Chile and southern Argentina.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Adults are generally around 2 cm in length.

Source: Wikipedia

Does it bite or sting?

Females bite mammals to obtain blood.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Female Osca lata feed on mammalian blood to produce eggs.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range includes southern Chile and southern Argentina.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Osca lata photo 2
Photo: Valentín Alfano, CC BY
Osca lata photo 3
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Osca lata photo 4
Photo: Álvaro Parra Valdivia, CC BY
Osca lata photo 5
Photo: Ezequiel Racker, CC BY

Questions people ask

Do they bite?

Yes, female Osca lata bite mammals to obtain blood for egg development.

Source: Wikipedia

Where are they found?

They are found in southern Chile and southern Argentina.

Source: Wikipedia

How big are they?

Adults are about 2 cm long.

Source: Wikipedia

What do they look like?

They have a bright reddish-orange stripe on the sides of the thorax and abdomen.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Tabanidae)

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

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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