What is the origin of the name ‘blind fly’?

Answer

Dear Theo,

this is indeed a horsefly (family Tabanidae). Remarkably enough, depending on the region, people sometimes speak of blind horse flies, blind horse flies, blind mosquitoes or blind flies, while they have large compound eyes that take up almost the entire head.

According to the literature, the name “blind fly” has to do with the fact that these horseflies are easy to swat to death while drinking blood. Only the females drink blood, the male horseflies feed on nectar.

To answer your second question: there are indeed blind insects, and also insects with very limited vision. These can be found in the group of troglobites or troglobionts; these are animals that spend their entire lives in dark spaces, such as caves. These troglobites are completely or partially blind and compensate for this through other senses, e.g. a very good sense of hearing or smell, others have e.g. long antennae.

An example of such a blind insect is the long-necked cave beetle Leptodirus hochenwarthii, another example is the cave locust.

kind regards,

Hans