#3
It has a head, which is retracted inside thoracal segments. 3 thoracal and 8 abdominal segments. Distinct creeping welts around segments. Last body segment with a slit inside which spiracles are situated. Looks like Tabanus for me but I am not sure.
It is large - about 10 mm.
#4
Dear Cranefly
First let me say, that it is often necessary to study more details of the larvae than can be seen on these photo's. In my opinion the way the larva is coated with hairs is almost unique for Tabanus. Haematopota, Pangonius, Silvius, Heptatoma, Chrysops, Nanorhynchus, Philipomyia, Hybomitra, Atylotus have another pattern of this brown pubescence, at leat of the anal segment. So in my opinion Tabanus it is. I ruled out Therioplectes merely by its size but also by another pubescence. But for an identification to species level it is necessary for me to read Russian (Andreeva 1990) and study the material under the binocular.
The anal segment doesn't have larger pseudopods in front of the anus, so I can rule out 13 species. That leaves us with about 35 species (European part of USSR). On the basis of the pubescence of the last 2 abdominal segments I furthermore can rule out some more, but my Russian isn't that good. So you better check with Andreeva (1990) (I can send you a copy of course) or you could send me the specimen for a closer study. If you know which Tabanus species has been recorded from that area it would be most informative.
By the way, for a Tabanus 10mm is short, mostly they are about 25-35 mm, and of course some bigger ones.....
#5
Many thanks, Atylotus. I think I can find Andreeva in our library. Yes, I know that this larva is small, but I'll try in spite of this to feed it with some insect larvae and to rear.
