In reply to Bob Kemp:
> I've only ever seen a dead one, fortunately, but there's a giant horsefly about 3cm long, the UK's biggest fly. Wouldn't fancy a bite from one of them.
I get them in my garden. They're terrifying to look at- They're so big, that the body parts that will damage you are visible at a casual glance. See one sunning itself and (shudder) I try to sneak past it, giving it a wide berth.
They evoke that same visceral fear that you experience the first time you see a giant Wood Wasp, but whereas the wasp is harmless, the big horsefly will mess you up.
Like their littler version, they fly quietly; but at least the temporary solar eclipse they can generate as they home in provides for the possibility that you may be just able to escape....