Taxonomic group
Family: Tabanidae
Diagnostic features
The Tabanidae is another one of the less common families of true flies in our fresh waters. Their larvae resemble those of craneflies, but the tabanids have distinctive rings of psuedopods (fleshy bumps) along the body. Like the tipulids the head is retractile and there are no prolegs, but unlike the tipulids there is no spiracular disc (breathing structure) at the end of the abdomen.
Typical habitats
Most of our records of tabanid larvae are from hard bottom, bush covered streams.
Feeding
It is assumed that like overseas, New Zealand tabanid larvae are predators, preying on other stream invertebrates.
Indicator value
- Hard bottom: 3
- Soft bottom: 6.8
The tolerance values (ranging from 0 to 10) give an indication of which are the sensitive taxa (values of 8 or more) and which are the tolerant taxa (values of 3 or less). For more information see: Indicator species
Due to their infrequent occurrence, we don’t know much about the water quality requirements (and therefore indicator value) of tabanids. They have tolerance values of 3 (hard bottom sites) and 6.8 (soft bottom sites).