From a mosquito control website: I saw this male mosquito, and it was HUGE!! - Actually, you probably saw a crane fly - looks similar to a mosquito, but is much larger. Male mosquitoes are smaller than the female, has no proboscis (mouth parts for piercing the skin) and has fuzzy antennae. Most people will never see a male mosquito.
The crane fly=male mosquito myth seems to be far-reaching and persistant. Don't hold it against mom.
I think this particular myth sticks because it "explains" crane flies in a way that seems scientific, and believing it doesn't cause any harm--unlike, say, believing that milkweed is edible (wait for the wild food people to attack me on this one).
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-05-23 12:59 pm (UTC)I saw this male mosquito, and it was HUGE!! - Actually, you probably saw a crane fly - looks similar to a mosquito, but is much larger. Male mosquitoes are smaller than the female, has no proboscis (mouth parts for piercing the skin) and has fuzzy antennae. Most people will never see a male mosquito.
The crane fly=male mosquito myth seems to be far-reaching and persistant. Don't hold it against mom.
I think this particular myth sticks because it "explains" crane flies in a way that seems scientific, and believing it doesn't cause any harm--unlike, say, believing that milkweed is edible (wait for the wild food people to attack me on this one).