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

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Daddy long-legs meaning harvestmen, crane flies, or cellar spiders?

[ms-cantrell.livejournal.com]

those harvestmen look like what i call daddy-long legs, although the body looks a little bigger and the front legs look a bit longer. for some reason, they looked a lot friendlier when i was a kid ;-)

funny how there are so many names for each bug/spider, but i guess there are regional differences in many bugs as well as different naming habits.