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FastestThings

Insects

Hybomitra hinei

Dean reprints Kunzig 2000: a male horsefly estimated at about 89 mph (145 km/h) while chasing a pellet. The same chapter's table codes that episode as a ground speed of 90.1 mph (40.3 m/s).

A hybomitra hinei can travel 90.1 mph (145 km/h), a claimed figure.

Also known as horsefly, Hybomitra hinei wrighti
Post on X (opens in a new tab)

Top speed

Published as 145 km/hPublished as 145 km/hPublished as 145 km/h

T.J. Dean, University of Florida Book of Insect Records, Chapter 1, April 1, 2003. Prose: unrefereed literature, a male Hybomitra hinei estimated at an airspeed of around 89 mph (145 km/h) while chasing an air-rifle pellet, citing Kunzig 2000. Table 1 codes Hybomitra hinei at 90.1 mph (40.3 m/s), maximum, ground speed, free flying, same citation. The figure is the prose estimate, 90.1 mph (145 km/h), qualifier claimed. 90.1 mph (40.3 m/s) is the table's ground-speed code for that episode, not a separate record.

ClaimedUniversity of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 1.4× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 2.3 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)
  • London to New York in 38 h 25 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Quick answers

People also ask

How fast can a hybomitra hinei travel?

A hybomitra hinei can travel 90.1 mph (145 km/h), a claimed figure.

Is that figure claimed or verified?

Hybomitra hinei is labeled Claimed. Stated by a manufacturer, owner or publication without independent timing.

What is the source?

The figure cites University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology, “Book of Insect Records, Chapter 1, horsefly prose.”

Where does Hybomitra hinei rank?

Hybomitra hinei is 1st of 10 on Fastest Insects.

Mechanism

Why it's so fast

Hybomitra hinei is ranked at about 89 mph (145 km/h), the unrefereed estimate Dean reprints from Kunzig 2000 for a male horsefly chasing an air-rifle pellet. The chapter’s table codes that episode as a ground speed of 90.1 mph (40.3 m/s).

Estimate
89 mph (145 km/h)
Table cell
90.1 mph (40.3 m/s), ground
Qualifier
Claimed

  1. Prose and table disagree

    Dean’s prose calls about 89 mph (145 km/h) an airspeed estimate. Table 1 says about 90 mph (40.3 m/s) and codes it X / G / FF: a maximum ground speed, free flying. The rank follows the prose and stays claimed. That table cell is the same ballpark, and it is not a separate figure.

  2. Why a pellet chase is thin

    The account is one insect and one pellet, in a popular article rather than a methods paper. Dean says the highest refereed airspeed is the desert locust, not this horsefly. The claim leads the list because that number is larger, and the qualifier says so.

The refereed airspeed is the desert locust.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 145km/h90.1mph40.3m/s78.3knRanked figure

    T.J. Dean, University of Florida Book of Insect Records, Chapter 1, April 1, 2003. Prose: unrefereed literature, a male Hybomitra hinei estimated at an airspeed of around 89 mph (145 km/h) while chasing an air-rifle pellet, citing Kunzig 2000. Table 1 codes Hybomitra hinei at 90.1 mph (40.3 m/s), maximum, ground speed, free flying, same citation. The figure is the prose estimate, 90.1 mph (145 km/h), qualifier claimed. 90.1 mph (40.3 m/s) is the table's ground-speed code for that episode, not a separate record.

    Table 1 says 90.1 mph (40.3 m/s) and codes it X / G / FF, a maximum ground speed. The prose calls the same account an airspeed estimate. The rank follows the prose and stays claimed.

    Claimed
    University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Species
Hybomitra hinei
Estimate
about 89 mph (145 km/h)
Table cell
90.1 mph (40.3 m/s), ground speed

Context

Background

T.J. Dean's chapter on the fastest flying insect says the highest refereed airspeeds are lower than the number people repeat for a horsefly. In the unrefereed literature, Kunzig 2000 estimated a male Hybomitra hinei at around 89 mph (145 km/h) while it chased an air-rifle pellet. That is the one that countsed figure, and the qualifier is claimed.

The chapter's own table does not keep 90.1 mph (145 km/h). It stores 90.1 mph (40.3 m/s) for Hybomitra hinei and codes the cell as a maximum ground speed, free flying. Dean's key says G means ground speed and A means airspeed. The prose and the table disagree about which quantity Kunzig measured. The rank follows the prose estimate and keeps the table code beside the main figure. A wind-borne black cutworm at 60.3 mph to 70.2 mph (97–113 km/h) is ground speed with an airspeed of only 5.6 mph to 8.1 mph (9–13 km/h), so it is not a row.

Head to head

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