- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Some folks call them "bugsy" or "mosquito hawks" or "skeeter eaters" "flying daddy longlegs."
They may look like Texas-sized mosquitoes but they're not mosquitoes. Neither do they eat mosquitoes. They're crane flies in the order Diptera, family Tipulidae. And they're found worldwide.
Slender and long-legged, they fly awkwardly, easy prey for even slow-moving birds. These insects wobble around as if on crooked stilts as they land on your lawn, door, or window. Sometimes you'll see them sipping nectar, but most of the time, they don't feed. Often you'll see crane flies with missing legs (they're fragile and break off easily).
The adults are harmless, though. (Their larvae, called leatherjackets, commonly feed on turfgrass roots.)
We spotted a brown crane fly on our back porch last weekend. It allowed us a couple of photos before it took off for parts unknown, but fortunately keeping all its parts intact.
Entomologists are fascinated by its rostrum (snout) and its beak-like nasus. (That could lead to another nickname, "Snout fly.")
The adults live only 10 to 15 days, according to Wikipedia.
That's time enough to find a mate--or become food for a hungry bird.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You may have noticed this little floral visitor in your garden.
It might appear to be a bee, a common mistake to the untrained eye or those who think that all floral visitors are bees.
But it's a fly, and flies are pollinators, too!
This fly, from the genus Eristalis, family Syrphidae (hover flies), order Diptera, is probably Eristalis stipator, says fly expert Martin Hauser, senior insect biosystematist with the Plant Pest Diagnostics Branch, California Department of Food and Agriculture.
In its larval form, Eristalis, found in aquatic habitats, is known as a rat-tailed maggot, due to its appendage that resembles a snorkel.
Next time you see this little fly on a flower, you can tell your friends "In its larval stage, it's a rat-tailed maggot."
As they widen their eyes and raise their eyebrows, you can add: "But in its adult stage, it's a pollinator."
