Skip to content
Photo of Gadfly

Gadfly

虻虫 · Méng Chóng

Practitioner-only blood-mover for stubborn cases

Properties

CoolingCooling botanicalBitter

What it does

Gadfly breaks up stubborn blood stagnation that shows up as fixed abdominal masses, missed periods, and persistent post-trauma pain that won't fade. In TCM, it's typically combined with leech and peach kernel in classical formulas like Da Huang Zhe Chong Wan for severe blood stasis. Highly specialized, toxic, and reserved for serious cases under practitioner direction.

How to take it

Capsule

Used only in practitioner-prescribed formulas. Processed dried gadfly powder is dosed at 1–1.5g daily, almost always combined with other herbs.

See a TCM practitioner. This is a specialist-only botanical

Safety

  • Toxic. Animal-derived. Skip if you have insect allergies
  • Strictly avoid during pregnancy. Strong abortifacient effect
  • Strong blood-mover. Skip if on anticoagulants or have bleeding disorders
  • Use only practitioner-prescribed processed forms
  • Talk to your doctor before starting, especially if you take medication

Where it comes from

Dried gadfly has been part of TCM materia medica for over 2,000 years. The species used is Tabanus, a large biting fly whose females need a blood meal to lay eggs. Classical TCM groups it with other powerful blood-movers like leech and cockroach. The famous formula Dà Huáng Zhè Chóng Wán, recorded by Zhang Zhongjing in the 2nd century, combines gadfly with leech, peach kernel, and rhubarb for severe abdominal masses and amenorrhea from blood stasis.