Daddy Long Legs

There are lots of Daddy Long Legs around at the moment. They look a bit like gigantic mosquitos, but they're actually flies, Crane Flies. Thankfully they don't bite, unlike a mosquito and they only live for a few days. Their larvae, leatherjackets, eat plant roots and decaying plants through the winter and spring, then they pupate and hatch in September. The larvae like damp soil (so must have loved the spring) and the pupae like a nice dry, warm September, so we've had ideal conditions for them this year.

They're very strange looking things, with a long, thin body, one pair of wings and very long, fragile legs. If you look very closely you can see the little balancers just behind their wings, although they don't seem to work too well as they always seem to crash into everything and everyone when they're flying! They seem like such awkward flies. Even when they're resting they don't quite seem to be in control of their legs and look like they can't even hold their heads up.

#100DaysOfNature Day 70

You can just see the balancer sticking out underneath the wing on the left