March flyn.
/ˈmɑːtʃ flʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈmɑrtʃ ˌflaɪ/ 1. Any fly of the family Bibionidae (subclass Nematocera), comprising dark hairy flies that frequent flowers in spring and summer.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Nematocera > family Bibionidae > member of (March fly)
March fly1839
1839 T. T. Stoddart Songs & Poems 62 March fly and minnow tender.
1895 J. H. Comstock & A. B. Comstock Man. Study Insects xix. 450 They [sc. Bibionidae] are most common in early spring, which has suggested the name March-flies; but some occur later in the season.
1972 L. A. Swan & C. S. Papp Common Insects N. Amer. 603 March flies appear in large numbers early in the spring.
1973 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 12 Aug. 2/1 Many a March-fly-bitten mango packer..longs to pick peaches where there are no March flies to worry about, only wasps.
1993 M. Chinery Insects Brit. & N. Europe (ed. 3) 194 The adults [sc. flies of the family Bibionidae] are often abundant on grassland in the spring and are sometimes called March-flies.
2. Australian. Any horsefly of the family Tabanidae.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Brachycera > family Tabanidae > member of genus Tabanus (gadfly or horse-fly)
breezea800
stoutc1000
horsefly1382
gad-bee1510
gadfly1569
brimse1579
wag-leg1585
breeze-fly1587
breame1589
beast-fly1658
burrel-fly1658
whame1658
gad-breeze1665
bree1678
garabee1692
gad1830
thunderbug1837
ox-warble1840
March fly1852
1852 J. Bonwick Notes Gold Digger 22 The nuisance is the flies, the little fly and the stinging monster March fly.
1907 W. W. Froggatt Austral. Insects 294 They [sc. Tabanidae] are popularly known in Australia as ‘March Flies’; in England and America they usually go under the name of ‘Horse or Gad Flies’.
1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. vii. 221 The sluggish ‘march’ fly..goes about the business of blood-sucking in a lazy..style.
1947 I. L. Idriess Isles of Despair viii. 58 A vicious March fly with threatening buzz dived at her.
1970 D. H. Colless & D. K. McAlpine in Insects of Austral. (Commonw. Sci. & Industr. Res. Organization, Austral.) xxiv. 701/2 Tabanidae (March flies, horse flies;..). In Europe and North America, the term ‘March fly’ is applied to the Bibionidae.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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