What are crane flies and why are they swarming?
(WVUE) - With the weather getting warmer you might notice big flies with long legs around your home or outside.
Crane flies, also known as mosquito eaters, are flies that come out of hibernation from their eggs when the weather gets warm.
Molly Keck, an integrated pest management specialist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, says that the time they emerge “depends on year temperatures and how much moisture” the climate has gotten during the winter.
While they might seem to hide in every corner, Keck says that they are completely harmless.
“They can’t bite they don’t actually have functioning mouth parts they are just a little bit scary to some people may be unpredictable, but they are harmless,” she explained.
The crane fly has a short life span of a couple of days, and it doesn’t hunt or eat, but they have one mission; to find a mate before the weather gets cold again.
Entomologist Dr. Laura Weiser-Erlandson with Texas A&M University-Central Texas says that crane flies don’t physically do much for the environment, but they are essential to the food chain.
“They are definitely important for that broader food web, in terms of providing food for other organisms, they do a little bit of decomposition, so they are important for that part of the food web as well.”
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