The Blandford Fly

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA) · Jun 6, 2008

Having lived in parts of the world where one gets used to things that bite and sting, one becomes complacent about the nasties that bite in Britain.

To be quite honest I'd rather have a few black widow spiders and the odd funnel web compared with things like the Blandford Fly!

In addition to the Blandford Fly, here are a few things that can give you lots of trouble in England.

Horse Flies - several species.
Gnats - nuisance more than anything else.
Wasps - some people are unknowingly allergic to them.
Bees - again, allergy can be a problem, fortunately British bees are docile compared with the African variety.
Hornets - The sting from a hornet is extremely painful and could easily cause major problems with the young or the elderly. I have been stung twice in my life by hornets.
Spiders - There are several spiders in Britain that who's bite could cause complications. Most notable are the common British House Spider and the False Widow Spider

As a matter of interest there has been no deaths from the bites of the Black Widow/Redback spider and the Funnel Web Spider for many years, not since anti-venom has been developed.

Windy · Jun 6, 2008

I thought that Blandford Fly was just the name of a beer...

Thanks for the information and warning.

In passing another good reason not to wear shorts down that part of the world, New Forest, along the Avon, Ringwood and down to Bournemouth is the prevalance of Lymes disease ticks. Long trousers for the win....

coelacanth · Jun 8, 2008

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Windy wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

I thought that Blandford Fly was just the name of a beer...</blockquote>

Simuliid blackfly (of which the Blandford Fly is one) appear to be becoming more widespread due to the improvements in water quality, the past two years are the first I can remember where the damn things have been an issue around Bolton (I got nailed three times by them while raking a farm pond, my hand swelled up so much it looked like I'd had a transplant from a fat bloke and each bite point started to ulcerate).

Yesterday the skeeters around Silverdale were as bad asI can ever remember in the UK, it was more like being in a Canadian woods than northern England.

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA) · Jun 8, 2008

I never wear shorts when I'm out in the countryside walking through the grass or on a fishing trip. I learned that years ago.

Many years ago in Ireland you used to get zapped by large horseflies. They looked like the Tsetse fly and had a huge proboscis. It felt like a blunt injection when they stuck it in you.

Paul (Brummie) Williams · Jun 8, 2008

Does age make us more prone to respond in a dangerous wayto the bites of insects?

I'm now in my 50's and i do seem to react more to "bites" where i used to hardly notice them.....in fact i seem to react more to netle stings than i did up to say 40.

Anyone know if age is a factor....?

Richard Farrow · Jun 8, 2008

Reckon so Paul you are a really 'old fart' now.

Is it that or have insects reacted and evolved as a result of modern medicines?

Paul (Brummie) Williams · Jun 8, 2008

Oi......i'm in good company!

Windy · Jun 9, 2008

Is there any antiseptic / blue bag (showing my age /forum/smilies/thinking_smiley.gif) vinegar bottle, half a lemon or other miracle cure to be applied to a bite immediately you become aware of it that helps prevent these secondary infections ? I'd certainly carry something in those areas.

The Lymes disease tics, there's a special twist tool that costs a quid or so to help remove them - you get them from vets or online, you have to use it as you can't do it with fingers, it has to be a twist or not a pull, or else their legs and biting bits come off and stay in the wound. Which causes problems like you do not want to know about on the infection front....

ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one) · Jun 9, 2008

Lymes disease from deer tics is prevalent in New England --- and canhave some really debilitating effects

Bob Paulley · Jun 9, 2008

We used to call them Dung Flies, although I've never seen one on a cowpad.

As for the Black Widow bit, while their bite causes pain several degrees more acute than childbirth (a fact asserted by my Salvadorean cleaning lady) they are seldom fatal! I found out when I was bitten, when working in El Salvador. I experienced two weeks of debilitating pain, which saw me almost paralysed for the duration. My left calf swelled to about three times its normal size!

The cleaning lady, a veteran of the local coffee plantations, was the most effective antidote. She put me through immense agonies, massaging her own folk medicines into the bite area (on my wrist) and the affected calf (while her hubby helped himself to my Chivas Regal!) The company doctor was amazed. He expected me to be on my back for at least 6 weeks. She had me back at work in 2!

Then there is Lyme Disease. My daughter in law is causing our local Health Service some grief. She has managed to contract a variety of Lyme Disease thought only to exist in Bulgaria!......... a country to which she has never been!........ nor has she ever seen a Tick, let alone been bitten by one!

Gee · Jun 30, 2008

I was bitten by the Blandford Fly in July 2007, while walking around Hengistbury Head, Christchurch. I had three bites on my right ankle. Initially itchy, then turned painful and then my leg and foot began to swell alarmingly. After three days, as the redness started to increase up my leg, I went to A&E. They put me on industrial strength penicillin (2 types) - mega doses. The red lines continued up my leg for another day or more, but eventually the reaction began to subside.

It took several weeks before I felt better and before I could walk again. Months later I was still getting occasional problems and swelling in the area.

Since the bites last July, I have had two other bites that caused problems, as well as a weird reaction from what appears to have been a brush with some sort of caterpillar! I have had to take penicillin again following the most recent bite on my left ankle.

I'm not a fishing person - just a walker/bird watcher. I came across your website while googling for info on the dreaded Blandford Fly.

I go nowhere nowwithout insect repellent. I admit to feeling nervous!

Mrs G

Bob Paulley · Jun 30, 2008

There are several hairy caterpillars, which will do that. The most common is the caterpillar of the Tortoise Shell, which is very common in Dorset.

Calamine Lotion is effective in reducing the Blandford Fly bite, but you obviously got a dose of septicaemia from yours (not that rare)...... That's why we used to call them dung flies.

Good news and bad news about my daughter in law. She does not have Lyme Disease. However, the bad news is that she has an UNKNOWN infection, which causes similar symptoms.

She now knows how a guineapig feels............./forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif

Wolfman Woody · Jun 30, 2008

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Bob Paulley wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

Good news and bad news about my daughter in law. She does not have Lyme Disease. However, the bad news is that she has an UNKNOWN infection, which causes similar symptoms.</blockquote>

Perhapa that's why they always say that Doctors are "practising". Why can they never commit themselves to naming an ailment? Sorry for your Daughter-i-l Bob.

Met a woman last week with a nasty bite on her leg that had reddened and her foot was staring to swell, this two days after the bite. She was goign to her doctor and I told about the Blandford fly.

Bob Paulley · Jun 30, 2008

Many thanks, Woody. I passed on your commiserations.

The swelling is normal, the red vein lines are the dangerous bits.

Herewith some infolinks on the little pest:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A6756519

http://www.whitecliffpractice.co.uk/around%20the%20area/blandford%20fly.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jvk/100346280/

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA) · Jun 30, 2008

My next door neighbour's wife was bitten by a black button spider (African name for Black Widow)whilst pulling weeds up at the side of the house. It caused her to scream out loud, and she continued screaming until the doctor at the local hospital was able to administer morphine.

The American Black Widow, the African Black Button and the Australian Redback are all the same spider if you ask me. They all belong to the Latrodectus group and they all have the same habits.

Bob Paulley · Jun 30, 2008

Don't I know it! I have an extremely high tolerance to pain, born of some esoteric training, during my travels, but that was just too much!

WHilst I didn't scream, I was pretty much non-compos mentis, so the Salvadorean Dr., brought in by the company, administered the morphine before I could tell him, I have a very low tolerance to drugs!

The upshot was that I tripped out and went walkabout behind the nurse's back. Fortunately for me, as I staggered around the centre of San Salvador, doing strange things around trees, I was recognised by my maid's eldest son (a security guard). He took me under control just before the Salvadorean Police (a particularly brutal organisation) could arrest me.

I spent the rest of that day in a locked medical ward!

One thing is certain, I'd make a rubbish junkie! /forum/smilies/tongue_out_smiley.gif

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA) · Jun 30, 2008

The only spiders that have bitten me have been the sac spider, common in the USA and Africa, the British house spider and a relative of the Brown Recluse Spider.

The first two caused big "Itchy Bumps" the last one caused mild necrosis - I still have the scar but I'm not showing it to anyone, it's in a sensitive area.

/forum/smilies/embarassed_smiley.gif

John Lane 2 · Jul 1, 2008

I seem to recall some years ago reading about a fly which only bit females. As I recall it was only found on one section of the Dorset Stour. Is this the Blandford fly with more catholic sexual preferences?

Bob Paulley · Jul 1, 2008

That is probably a myth. However, it is not a myth that it is the female Blandford Fly, which bites!

The female needs blood, to produce healthy eggs.

stewart howe · Jan 17, 2009

I remember going to a weekend party in Dorset back in the 90,s it was a very hot weekend so i had shorts on but a local women at the party advised me to cover my legs because of the risk being bitten by the Blanford fly i laughed at first thinking she was taking the mickey butshe was deadly serious and said i wouldnt find it so funny if i got bit so i reluctantly put some jeans on and boy am i glad i did becauseas i was sitting talking to a local chap about cider as you do when he said ouch and jumped up pretty rapid saying something had bit him on his calf he shot of to clean the wound i didnt think anymore of it until the host of the party told us when we left monday that the guy had been bitten by a blandford fly and was in hospital being treated with antibiotics via a drip plus his leg was very badly swollen i suppose the moral of the story is if you are down Dorset way where the flies are about keep your lower legs covered at all times this Blandford fly is a nasty piece of work plus i am reliably informed that the little blighters dont like the Deet insect repelant me thinks i will just keep the legs covered next time i am down there.

The Blandford Fly

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