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Old 03-04-2012, 10:32 PM
 
3,669 posts, read 6,878,067 times
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What are these giant mosquitoes that don't bite which are new to this area? Never seen them before until this year.
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Old 03-04-2012, 10:36 PM
 
Location: San Antonio
7,629 posts, read 16,456,953 times
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I thought it was just me!! Never seen the like of these here before...and they are so huge then deserve "nav lights"....you would think they came on down from Alaska for the winter....LOL
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Old 03-05-2012, 12:04 AM
 
Location: San Quilmas, Tx
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They aren't mosquitoes. They're Crane Flys. Harmless actually.

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Old 03-05-2012, 01:37 AM
 
Location: South Central Texas
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Much easier to kill with a fly swatter too....or your hand!

.................................................. .............
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Old 03-05-2012, 02:27 AM
 
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One reason I posted is because a coworker brought up the possibility of genetically modified mosquitoes that are biotech designed to vaccinate us. I will be happy to report back that they are simple crane flies.

Does anyone know where their native habitat was before they moved in? Or what native insect populations they are replacing? Or is this just seasonal?

Heads up for next month! Caterpillars, their larva crawling all over the place, and the first heat wave, grr.

Last edited by BstYet2Be; 03-05-2012 at 03:27 AM..
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Old 03-05-2012, 02:35 AM
 
Location: Dallas TX & AL Gulf Coast
6,848 posts, read 11,804,066 times
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Merovee View Post
What are these giant mosquitoes that don't bite which are new to this area? Never seen them before until this year.

Merovee,


As Deep Forest stated, these are Crane Flies, it's Crane Fly Season in Texas!


See: Crane Fly - Discover Entomology at Texas A&M University - Extension Publications

and: It's crane fly season in Dallas and Texas!
.

Last edited by BstYet2Be; 03-05-2012 at 02:51 AM..
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Old 03-05-2012, 02:58 AM
 
Location: England
135 posts, read 176,576 times
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Hello.

Crane flys are very common in the UK. Apparently (as in commonly believed but can't find any evidence to back it up), if you get loads of Crane Flys you don't get as many Wasps later in the year.

Completely harmless with no bite or sting but the larvae kills lawns pretty quick. There you go, that's my knowledge spent .
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Old 03-05-2012, 04:18 AM
 
19 posts, read 36,426 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Slartibarfast View Post
Hello.

Crane flys are very common in the UK. Apparently (as in commonly believed but can't find any evidence to back it up), if you get loads of Crane Flys you don't get as many Wasps later in the year.

Completely harmless with no bite or sting but the larvae kills lawns pretty quick. There you go, that's my knowledge spent .
Yeah I'm in the UK currently and they are everywhere. But I see they'll be in San Antonio when I arrive in 5 months to lol.
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Old 03-05-2012, 05:31 AM
bjh
 
60,096 posts, read 30,397,185 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deep Forest View Post
They aren't mosquitoes. They're Crane Flys. Harmless actually.
Nailed it!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Merovee View Post
One reason I posted is because a coworker brought up the possibility of genetically modified mosquitoes that are biotech designed to vaccinate us. I will be happy to report back that they are simple crane flies.

Does anyone know where their native habitat was before they moved in? Or what native insect populations they are replacing? Or is this just seasonal?
They are also called mosquito hawks. They've been around for many thousands of years.

The adults eat plant nectar. The larva may eat mosquito larva. Otherwise, they're harmless to humans.

Crane fly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old 03-05-2012, 09:43 AM
 
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They aren't new to the area, just a lot more prevalent right now due to our unusual winter weather this year.
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