Common crane fly
The common crane fly is a grey fly with a thin body and very long, wobbly legs. It looks like a giant mosquito, but it is completely harmless. In the evening, little groups of them dance low over meadows and fields.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Each of its wings is about 2 to 3 centimetres long.
One female can lay up to 1,200 tiny dark eggs in moist soil.
Its larvae are brown and live underground. Gardeners sometimes call them leatherjackets.
There are two families a year: one flies in spring and early summer, the other from August to October.
Its whole life, from egg to old crane fly, lasts up to eight months.
Most asked questions about Common crane fly
?Do crane flies bite?
No. Crane flies cannot bite or sting. Their soft mouthparts can only sip liquids.
?What do crane flies eat?
Grown-ups only sip liquids like nectar. The larvae eat rotting plants and roots in the soil.
?Are crane flies giant mosquitoes?
No. They look a bit like mosquitoes, but they are a different family and harmless.
Myth buster
Myth: Crane flies are giant mosquitoes that bite.
Truth: No. Crane flies are not mosquitoes and cannot bite at all. Grown-ups only sip liquids like nectar.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Tipula oleracea
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Tipulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Tipulidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, North America, South America
- Also known as
- Marsh crane fly
Where the facts come from
- Tipula oleracea (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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