Weird crane flies.

[HillBill]

Last night a daddy long legs type fly came into out kitchen. I say "type" fly because i have never seen anything like it. It was HUGE. Its body was around 2 inches long and it was meaty its wings have tiger like stripes across them and it has small pincer like things at its rear. It almost looks like a cranefly/dragonfly cross.

Any ideas? I will post pics later, maybe in the morning.

 

[Calculon]

Sounds a bit like one of the Tiger Cranes, seems to be a lot of them around this year.

Try Google images or WAB you might find something similar.


Cheers

Calc

 

[gregorach]

Bioimages is great for reference photos... Try this. Doesn't seem quite the same as the beastie HillBill's describing though. Might be worth digging through the rest of the craneflies. Of course, if it's a US-specific species, it might not be there...

 

[Purdy Bear]

Cant say Iv seen anything like it, but there are a lot of flying Ants and stuff that dont normally have wings at the moment.

 

[HillBill]

It would seem to me from reading things on here and elsewhere that there are lots of everything this year. I have noticed an abudance of life around me that just hasnt been there for a while.

Nothing happens without reason.

What causes population booms? why do they happen from nowhere and without apparent noticable reason?

 

[OldFingersGreen]

i think its to do with a lack of natural predators, as we all know a few common and not so common garden birds are on the rapid decline, birds that usually feed on insects, the bigger and slower flying the better!

of course i could be wrong, nature is in a constant state of flux which is completely unpredictable, there could be any number of reasons i suppose!

Pictures please!

cheers dan

 

[Calculon]

It would seem to me from reading things on here and elsewhere that there are lots of everything this year. I have noticed an abudance of life around me that just hasnt been there for a while.

Nothing happens without reason.

What causes population booms? why do they happen from nowhere and without apparent noticable reason?

I think some years conditions are perfect at the bottom of the food chain, which causes abundance all the way up. Apparently this seems to be a good year for birds laying a second clutch of eggs due to the abundance of insects.

 

[Wayland]

Presumably, with all those successful clutches of chicks meaning more birds to eat the insects before breeding, next year could well be a poor year to be at the bottom of the food chain.

 

[Husky]

It would seem to me from reading things on here and elsewhere that there are lots of everything this year. I have noticed an abudance of life around me that just hasnt been there for a while.

Nothing happens without reason.

What causes population booms? why do they happen from nowhere and without apparent noticable reason?

Oh, its just the end of the world again, the bugs are getting ready to outlast it.
Have you checked your kit?

 

[HillBill]

Oh, its just the end of the world again, the bugs are getting ready to outlast it.
Have you checked your kit?

Whats the point in a post like this? Save your keyboard the wear n tear.

 

[dwardo]

I remember a kind of stripped crane fly when i was canoeing the Dee in chester.
I specificaly remember the stripes as they bt through two layers of clothing
Awfull bloody things they were and the bite was also painful unlike most mozzies.

No idea what they were called, although i did have a name for them "little ******"

 

[Melonfish]

Whats the point in a post like this? Save your keyboard the wear n tear.

hillbill, its called sarcasm m8 stop taking it to heart

 

[HillBill]

hillbill, its called sarcasm m8 stop taking it to heart

Not taken to heart mate. Just don't see the point in bringing something like that up in an unrelated thread.