A Skeeter-Eater?

By Margo ‘Mac’ McDowell, Fort Bend County Master Volunteer Coordinator

 

When I first arrived in Texas almost 30 years, and discovered these large (what I called) mutant mosquitoes, they just seemed to arrive in the Spring and seem to fly around aimlessly. I asked what they were and was told – “That’s a skeeter-eater!” Maybe “skeeters” is an East Coast jargon, but that’s what I thought they were named. But I thought, my goodness, what a wonderful insect this is that eats mosquitoes aka “skeeters!” Besides he looks like a mosquito, so it must be true! It took me several springs to watch this insect; to try to watch him eat mosquitoes. It was funny, I never saw him eat any… course, I never saw any mosquitoes either. So, naturally, I thought, he was eating them faster than I could see, then later I thought maybe there weren’t any mosquitoes?

 

Of course, today, I know better. Let me introduce to you

to –

 

The Crane Fly.

Scientific name: (Diptera: Tipulidae).

 

According to Texas A & M Entomology Department, these insects are

attracted to light, many think they look like large mosquitoes, but they

can’t bite. (That’s good to know!) However, their larvae have chewing

mouthparts, but neither adult nor larvae feed on mosquitoes. They prefer

damp, decomposing materials. You can even find them hiding under

materials in your compost piles. They are commonly found in moist

areas such as woodlands, streams and flood plains, but can be found in open range areas – such as us! Only the larvae eat.

 

Once they become adults, they do not eat. People shouldn’t give these much attention, just leave them be as they are known as a decomposer. They are classified in the Order Diptera – which is the fly.

 

One can usually find these flying around in early spring in our area, normally February and March. They fly around your doors where the light is and can get inside your home. They can get caught in your cobwebs and hang around like airplanes. You could classify this as a beneficial insect since its catch in your cobwebs will benefit your house cleaning efforts, but generally there is not a reason to bring out any chemicals or sprays as this insect is harmless. Please go to these sites for more information. The last site listed shows a photo of the larvae.

 

Photo and Resources:

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/orders/diptera.html

http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/youth/bug/bug140.html

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg215.html

http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/