Home / Flies / Crane Flies

Crane Flies

Adult crane flies are black, red or yellow in color. Although some of their external characteristics resemble those of wasps, their polished bodies help to distinguish them. Crane flies may also be mistaken at times for mosquitoes, but they exhibit a v-shaped suture at the thorax that is not present on the body of the mosquito. Crane flies also have no ocelli.

Depending on the exact species, most crane flies measure between three and 60 millimeters in length, while tropical species are capable of growing up to 100 millimeters long. Crane fly wings may be transparent, brown, grayish black or brownish yellow. Some crane flies rest with extended wings, while others fold their wings flat. The mouths of adult crane flies are located at the end of their elongated faces, also known as snouts or short rostrums.

Males have three-branched segments of antennae, while females have either serrated or branched antennae. Female crane flies have extended abdomens, which house eggs and are capped with an ovipositor. Although these ovipositors appear similar to stingers, they are harmless and are only used for reproductive purposes.

Crane flies lay their eggs in the ground, where larvae feed on decaying wood and vegetation. Their feeding behaviors may damage plant roots. Adult crane flies prefer to dwell in wet, mossy, old and open woodlands. They primarily consume nectar, although they sometimes feed on other plant fluids. Crane flies survive for several days, with most species living only long enough to complete the reproductive cycle.

Common names for crane flies include jimmy spinners, mosquito hawks, mosquito eaters, mosquito nippers, gollywhoppers and gallinippers. Although they are known as daddy long legs in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand, they are not at all similar to the arachnid that goes by the same name in the United States.

Black Flies

Cluster Flies

Cluster Flies Remedies

Life Cycle of Flesh Flies

Green Flies

Horn Flies