Crane Flies: “Mosquito Eaters” That Don’t Eat Mosquitoes
Published on April 14, 2008 by some guy · 65 Comments
You know those gigantic four-legged freaks that fly in your face and swoop about like drunken B-52 bombers? On the West Coast, they’re referred to as “Mosquito Eaters,” in other areas, “Mosquito Hawks.” In reality these things are called crane flies, and no, they do not eat mosquitoes. In fact, adult crane flies don’t eat at all. They mature only to reproduce and die quickly thereafter. The grubs feed on decaying plant life in the soil. Crane flies carry no venom, and do not bite. Because they don’t eat, they can’t do anything dazzling enough to be considered a pest; except of course in the sense of annoyance. And seeing as summer is the season of this winged nuisance, they should be polluting your home in no time, if they haven’t already.
I for one hate crane flies. I wish they would vanish from the earth. I can’t sleep knowing one is dancing about my room, as I anticipate that it will fly into my mouth at any given moment. The only real purpose they seem to serve is as a food source for certain species of birds. Go figure.
Crane Flies: "Mosquito Eaters" That Don't Eat Mosquitoes,Tags: crane flies, don-039t eat, fly, hawk, mosquito eater, mosquitoes
Readers Comments (65)
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They do eat mosquitoes.I’ve seen it.
I believe I once observed a crane-fly snatch and consume a mosquito mid-flight as well.
I wish they did eat mosquitoes. NO, they just fly in your face when you open the damn door. I agree, I hate these damn things. God, I hate them.
they eat mosquito larvae
we found this bug on our car..and it kinda looks like it. but who knows for sure.
Discription: yellow and black torso & tail, its yellow and the black looks like a ” M ”
anbody know? if so comment back
peace
i hate them too! in fact i just killed around 4 today and one within the last 5 minutes, im keeping my doors shut from now on …i hate themmm
I always called the ‘vampires’ as a kid, because they looked like enormous mosquitoes, and I had the biggest fear of them. My parents though that funny so they did not correct me.
I always thought they were mosquitoes wow good to know!!
Dork
UGH! I can’t stand them! I just killed 1, and I killed about 8 the other night, and there is another one in my room. I kinda feel bad to kill them if they won’t bite me but I don’t want to take any chances, like you said, they are ANNOYING!!! I too want them to vanish from the world.
I thought they did eat mosquitos. Not that I’ve ever seen them do much but sit on the wall or bounce against the ceiling light. Ugh, there is always one flying around in my room, circling my light. Every night…. I HATE them… Seems like they always aim for my hair which just freaks me out! I now keep my door closed, light off. They are annoying. Stupid useless bug.
Oh yeah, these little buggers…grrr…I just found out what they really were tonight via online…I thought they were mosquitoes too, but when one is stalking me in my own home…well there I draw the line! It flew in while doing laundry, chased me…literally through my house, then hid from me, waiting, till I walked by and it dive bombed me like 10 times in one hour!! I drown in in my bathroom sink…I hope, after hitting it with a towel, they r not easy to catch, in fact very hard. What the hell!! I oh so hate these things and wish they would die off before they get this freakin big. Creapy!! Ewww!!! YUCK!!!
You do realize that these things are notorious in the animal kingdom as being BAD fliers, right? As in, they are very easy to catch.
Hrm, you should sleep with your mouth closed then
I don’t particularly mind them, but they do kinda get everywhere.
I have seen them eating an adult mosquito at least twice, in at least two different states.
So far, I’ve heard several sites say that these crane flies(which are currently inhabiting my house) eat nothing put pollen and plant soil. But on every site, there’s a couple of people who promise that they do. How annoying. I wonder if I’ll ever know for sure.
I’ve seen these things eat bugs in my bathroom. Never seen it eat a mosquito, but I’m pretty sure they could.
omg its so gross i saw to reproducing in my room.ewewewewewew
i no it really gross i saw like 3 of them reproducing in 1 day
I bough one of those cheap tennis-racket shaped battery powered bug zappers from Harbor Freight (in CA – not sure where else they are), for 2.99, and let me tell you, revenge is sweet! I too, like the rest of you, have been stalked and dive-bombed by those bastards many a time, but now, with the large-ish area of the racket zapper, us humans have a fighting chance…viva la resistance!!!
We use old wet socks to kill them….
I kill them mid air.
With my face.
Probably the best comment on this whole article. Fight on, brotha.
You know what you guys, my father is a crane fly and I don’t appreciate you guys jabbing him.
It makes you wonder–if evolution is true then why the hell haven’t these things learned to frickin eat after 6 days? And do something? Stupid.
That’s a pretty easy answer.
They reproduce, have kids, and those kids reproduce. After that, those kids also reproduce, and then their kids reproduce as well.
Interesting right?
I have one dancing in my room.. It wouldn’t leave, but it flew over me and I put my blanket over my head and made a yelping noise. I have serious issues for hating these things so, but I canna sleep with it in my room…. aaggh…. I hate craneflies, spiders, and %85 of bugs except for dragonflies and butterflies and ladybugs… I “wiggle” when I see them. I know I Have issues.
raise chickens!!!
Once again who do you believe? THe guy who posted something or the guys who commented under the post saying the opposite.
I for one wish the INTERNET would go away!!!
When I was a kid and first saw one of these, I thought it was a flying daddy long legs, which at the time I thought was a real spider so I was very afraid…
Damn son you had it bad. I just thought they killed mosquitoes my whole childhood but eventually found out otherwise.
They are slow and dumb. I grab them and toss them out the window. I only kill bugs that bite or are a pain to catch.
This is probably the same guy who screams in fear every time he sees one of those things fly at him.
oh my goodness. im from the east coast and they dont have “mosquito eaters” ever since i moved to the west they are everywhere! they look just like mosquitos and they look nasty! ugh..
I’m from the West and we’ve never had these bugs until last year. I HATE them, whenever I see them i run and hide under a blanket and scream. I’ve never seen them eat, reproduce or anything, I just know they’re a pain in the neck. I kill at least 10 every night.GRRRRR! I’m glad there’s bug spray!
i have millions of them in my house, my daughter likes them because she said they are flying ballerinas and while they dont eat enough to make it worth it, they do eat mosquito larvae, every little bit helps, just wish they would die in a more convenient place like the garbage
I wish they ate mosquitos!!! At least they’d be usefull. I hate them. My 22 month old thinks it’s fun to bring them to me and say “mess, mess, mess?!?!”
AH!!!!! REALLY THESE THINGS. TODAY THERE IS 1 OF THEM IN MY ROOM! MY SISTER IS SCARED OF BUGS… SHE YELLED HER HEAD OFF WHEN SHE CAME ACROSS 1 OF THESE THINGS!SHE ALWAYS TELLS ME 2 KILL IT. BUT I JUST DONT WANT TO
I WISH THESE THINGS WOULD MOVE OUT OF THE ROOM!!!!!
Crane flies, the spastic long-legged bugs the OP is taking about, DO NOT eat mosquitos. (They don’t really eat anything.)
Dragon flies DO eat mosquitoes.
Both crane flies and dragon flies can be referred to as “mosquito hawks”, which is why some of the posters here have seen “mosquito hawks” eating mosquitoes.
informative.
I kill over 10 in a minute!
Have any of you tried getting a bug-zapper?
They work like a charm.
I’ve called them “Charlie’s” since I was a kid. They don’t hurt anyone, why does everyone hate them so much??? I cup them gently in the palm of my hand and let them go free back outside if they sneak into the house.
SEEEEEE….. ? ? ? ? ? no harm no foul !!
I am an atheist and pro choice.. but seriously.. “forgive them, for they do not know what they do..” It’s life.. now snuff it out and wonder why nothing on this planet works. All you teenagers need to look up the word E-C-O-L-O-G-Y . . .
just kidding
Abortion is wrong you sick bastard.
Oh, that’s a relief! Except for the flying-into-the-mouth part. That’s kinda creepy.
Just consider it a midnight snack.
It seems that those who eat a lot of garlic are less attractive to the mosquitoes. Also taking B complex seems to leave a smell on the skin they don’t like. Shalimar perfume, on the other hand, they LOVE.
I once saw a bird swoop down within a few feet of my face and grab a large moth for lunch. So even though I’m very disappointed that they don’t eat mosquitoes, I’m glad they serve a purpose.
There are really a lot of definitions of mosquito eaters. However, I find this very interesting.
That is good to know, though I most certainly have never seen one sucking blood! If you are old enough and smart enough to use a computer and the internet, I would think you would know that thoes big clumsy bugs flying about your house all your life arent, in fact, not mosquitos. I do not like crane flys, though there are currently five of them flying about my room. Well actually, four. I just killed one! :].
Err, I meant are not arent.
We have these pest by the thousands.The only funny part is they aren’t shy where or when they mate.My dogs love to chase and catch them. But mostly how do we get rid of them .
SUMMER!?!?!?! It’s February 7th and I’ve got a platoon of them in my garage right NOW!
I just got a crane fly rubbing his long stupid tail in my face while I’m surfing the web
you know how when bugs die they give of a certain smell to alert other bugs to attack? Well I was getting ready to take a shower and I swatted like 50 mosquito’s, and opened the shower curtain and all I can see is this giant mosquito look alike in my shower and I was like ‘Oh S**t…’ I now have like 5 crane flies flying around my room. No sleep for me tonight.
The picture you have is of a mosquito, not a cranefly. I can’t imagine ANYONE hating such an innocent insect. I have never had one come inside, actually never seen one fly. They are just hanging on vertical surfaces around here.
Last night i was laying in my bed and like 3 of them flew onto my face and hair… i had enough at 2 in the morning…. so i had to sleep in my brothers room, which has no insects. It was fine until this morning i went into my room, thinking it was safe, then one hit me in the face again. In all occurences i never saw them, they just hit me and flew away. I had a spaz attack because one of them touched me again and my dad yelled at me. Ever since last night ive been extremely paranoid. Like if anything touched me, i jump. Im scared to go in my own room now. Its funny you know, like you know theyre harmless but youre scared of them and annoyed by them.
On Wikipedia its explained that before they change into adults to greed, they eat Mosquito larva.
I meant to spell breed.
You hit the nail on the head with that.
Them nasty dangley legged, useless insects that make a b-line through my open front door (caused by boyfriends plot to rid me through crane flies ) right straight for ME like some suicide psycho as I run screaming bloody murder down the hall! Kill em’ all I say!! Stupid crane flies, my boyfriend said.
OOOOHHH i hate them to seriously it could send me to the loony bin. They come in and go straight to dive bombing you then if you try to kill them the hide behind pictures on your wall and shit for hours uuggghhh and they grow sooooo huge its disgusting.I wish bugs would stay away from me then i would leave them alone….
I found one dead while I was doing laundry.I took its wings off & identified it in my microscope. It was so COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We use the Dustbuster and suck them up from the front porch every night. Works great!