| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1981 |
| Authors: | F. W. Kniepert |
| Journal: | Zeitschrift fur Angewandte Entomologie |
| Volume: | 91 |
| Pagination: | 486-510 |
| Date Published: | 1981 |
| Keywords: | Behaviour, Cattle, Europe, Feeding, Germany, Mouthparts, Review, Tabanidae |
| Abstract: | A study carried out in the German Federal Republic showed that the rate of attack by females of species of Tabanidae on cattle depended on the position, size and coloration of the host. Each of the 18 tabanid species studied preferred a particular site for feeding; these patterns were analysed statistically and were found to be caused by variations in the length of the hair, thickness and tensile strength of the skin of the animal. The tabanids preferred sites in which these characters correlated with the absolute and relative length of their proboscis. This phenomenon illustrates the competitive exclusion principle. |
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