Mutuca Month

It's November 7th and for the last 7 days, all I heard about is this mysterious insect... Mutuca. Everyone keeps saying... oh, you live at the beach? Watch out for the mutuca. They infest the areas near beaches, rivers, lakes, etc in the month of November. From what I've heard, they look like flies, but bigger, and they bite! Not like a mosquito bite though... a bite that bleeds and hurts! So for the last 7 days, anything with wings or that somewhat resembles a fly has scared me half to death! They only come around in the month of November and then they go away. I debated closing up the house and staying inside for a month ...but it's hot and I like the beach! Anyways, I encountered my first mutuca today. It was big and very scary looking and it definitely wanted to bite me. Too bad for him, he met my little friend chinelo (flip-flop). Upon closer examination, it looked a lot like a fly disguised as a bee, or vice versa. I decided to google it. How could I not have guessed!? You probably already have! This mutuca insect is none other than what we Americans call the horsefly! This really does not ease my fears though. Although my contact with the horsefly has been limited, I remember being bit as a child and it bled and hurt a lot! I also think the Brazilian version of the horsefly is somewhat different. See here:

Mutuca, butuca, moscardo...it has many names.

I'm already hoping the month of November goes by fast and without any mutuca bites!!!!

Wish me luck...