Witnessed by: TCM

Gadfly, of the Tabanidae (Insecta) family. A large stout biting fly of pasture; the females take blood from cattle and horses, and the whole female is the drug; native range: pasture and open country across China, wherever cattle and horses are kept. Globally recognized as meng chong (虻蟲) in Chinese, and gadfly, horsefly in English. The part used is the whole dried female fly, the wings and legs often removed. A dried blackish-brown fly with a broad head and large eyes, brittle and light, crushing to a greyish powder; the smell rank.

In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.

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