365 Urban Species. #142: Crane Fly

[urbpan]

Urban species #142: Crane fly Nephrotoma ferruginea

Almost everybody has had the harrowing experience of encountering what appears to be the world's largest mosquito bumbling around the light fixture, or perched ominously on the wall. The insect is ignored, caught and released outdoors, or (most likely) flattened with a blunt instrument. The insect in question is the harmless, which is to say non-biting, crane fly. There are hundreds of species of them, and when they are fully grown, most do not feed on anything at all, never mind on human blood. Their larvae live in the soil feeding on the roots of grass and other plants, and are called "leatherjackets" by those who attempt to exterminate them. Of course, if insecticide is used to control them, predacious insects such as ground beetles are killed as well, possibly exacerbating the problem. Adult crane flies live a very short time, and are important prey for bats, swallows, and chimney swifts.

Comments

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

I don't remember where I got this knowledge, but I'm going to guess from mom. Male mosquitoes don't bite and they're significantly larger than the females. I don't have a lot of nature facts stuck in my head, but for some reason, I'm utterly convinced of this and will remain so until you tell me otherwise.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

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).

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Okay. You've convinced me. I'll stop passing along that bit of bad info.

btw, either before you were born, or not long after, mom cooked up some milkweed for us. It tasted terrible. So much for that experiment. Fortunately, the indian cucumbers were a much bigger success.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Oh god, I don't remember that story. Euell Gibbons was trying to kill us!

The secret to all wild plants (except fruits) is that they taste terrible. Think about it: broccoli and spinach are cultivated plants, that took a lot of time and effort to develop. Plants (except for some fruits) don't want to be eaten, so they put some energy into tasting bad--or in the case of milkweed, being out and out poisonous.

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

I stand by the indian cucumbers. Those were mighty tasty.