Crane Fly or Mosquito Hawks? Debunking the Biggest Confusion

The crane fly is a pest which people often confuse with a mosquito.  It has a slimy body type, long legs and looks like a funny mosquito in home. These flies and the mosquitoes are similar because of their external features. In fact, the crane flies do not bite or sting humans and they are very safe as compared to the mosquitoes. You can usually spot them in damp places like lawns, gardens, and near water all around places. Their fragile look, with legs that are very easy to detach, makes them a very common insect in the late summer and fall.

Crane fly lifespan

• The female flies lay eggs in the moist soil or sometimes in the water. These eggs take a week or two to hatch, releasing larvae called leatherjackets due to their hard skins.
• The larval stage is the stage at which the crane fly lives the longest and most active. Depending on the species and the environment, the larvae survive a few weeks to a year. During this time, they are the largest consumers of organic matter, plant roots, and rotting vegetation.
• Then the crane fly enters the pupal stage lasting approximately one to two weeks where the transformation of the larva to an adult occurs. The transformation period into the adult phase takes place during the pupa stage which lasts approximately one or two weeks.

Adult Life of a Crane Fly- The life of an adult crane fly is very brief and typically varies from 1 to 15 days. Reproduction is the only mission of the adult part of the life cycle.

Normally, adults don’t eat, and if they do, it is just a little nectar or water. Their mouthparts either donot develop or are non-functional which makes it difficult for them to eat. Therefore, the crane fly lifespan as an egg to an adult may take six weeks to several months.

Do Crane Flies Eat Mosquitoes?

The fact that crane flies are considered as great mosquito hunters is still a misunderstanding among the public. Hence, they are incorrectly called “mosquito hawks.” Nevertheless, this is far from accurate.

The question do crane flies eat mosquitoes is an easy one to answer.  The reply is negative. No, and in addition to that, they do not bite and are not dangerous to people. The majority of the adult flies do not eat at all, and those which do are only like sipping nectar. While some aquatic larvae of certain crane fly species might occasionally eat small invertebrates, including mosquito larvae, this is rare and not their main diet. So, it is nonsense to trust crane flies for the purpose of mosquito controlling.

What do crane flies eat?

To better understand what do crane flies eat we need to discuss their larvae and adult stage.  The main consumers of food in the larval stage are the flies of the crane family. In general, they feed on a great variety of organic materials like rotten plant stuff, grass roots, seedlings, fungal, algae, and sometimes small animals. This activity not only breaks down organic substances but also contributes to the improvement of the soil and the cycling of nutrients. But, if the numbers of the flies are very high, they can do a lot of damage to the lawns and the plants in the fields because they will be eating the roots of the plants.

As adults, their dietary habits become completely contrasted with their larval forms. Owing to their lifecycle being very short and their mouthparts being either completely absent or non-functional, the majority of crane flies do not feed at all. In cases when they feed, it is mostly nectar or water that they consume which barely gives them any energy for their short adult lives. The main goal of their adult phase is to reproduce, not to eat.

Conclusion

The crane fly is an insect that has a very important function in the ecosystem, particularly during its larval stage. Although it is a weirdly shaped pest often misidentified as a mosquito, but the crane fly is neither mosquito eater nor a threat to people.  This is because it doesnot bite.

The larvae of the crane fly are also responsible for the nutrient cycle since they consume dead organic materials, although they may be the source of some small problems in lawns. The crane fly lifespan is limited and concentrated only on mating, as the adults hardly eat during the whole time. Knowing what do crane flies eat will make the situation with them clearer, the good ones who help nature get rid of the dead things instead of hunting the mosquito.

So, the health-conscious homeowners who realise that crane flies may become their best friends by making the right choices in the matter of pest control and care.