Daddy long-legs are everywhere at the moment! Not only out on Coombes reserve in huge numbers- a swarm kicked up with every step in the long grass- but in gardens and homes too. Who hasn’t been terrorised by a swooping, flailing menace in their kitchen or living room of late?
Craneflies aren’t terribly lovable creatures, so why write about them? I’ve done some research to see if I couldn’t change my perceptions, and here’s what I’ve discovered!
Craneflies attracted by the light of the moth trap- photo by Holly Arnfield
First I wondered why have long, ungainly legs, when they seem such a hindrance?
There isn’t one single reason, but several benefits of long, fragile legs. For instance they act as a sensory organ, like a mammal’s whiskers, and if you’re flying in the dark, it’s better to bash your legs against things rather than damage your wings. They also stabilise the fly’s long body in the air, and attract predators’ attention from more vital parts of the body. Although long legs are likely to get caught in a web, that leg can be left behind and the fly escape total entanglement.
More important for me, though, is to understand the ecological role of the cranefly- when I can see its use, its place within the ecosystem, I can forgive it its less pleasant aspects.
Despite their seeming predisposition to seek an early death, craneflies do very well as a family of insects. There are over 4000 species worldwide, and one fly in ten is a cranefly!
“Daddy long-legs” are actually several different similar-looking species called by the same name. They spend most of their life as leatherjackets- larvae which live in the soil and eat roots, only emerging briefly as adults to breed.
Mating craneflies- photo by Holly Arnfield
Adults are very short-lived, and if they survive to breed they’re doing well, considering aside from the dangers of drowning or burning themselves in our homes, they have many predators: bats, spiders, and all kinds birds including swallows, dunnocks, warblers and flycatchers, to name a few!
An unfortunate cranefly caught by a spider- photo by Lizzie Ingram
Our management of our woodland to provide suitable habitat and nest sites for our key bird species would be of no avail without the food source daddy long-legs and other insects kindly provide. Really we should be grateful for such high numbers of craneflies, since they’re an important food source for more charismatic British wildlife! It’s great to think the lowly cranefly is giving the spotted flycatchers around our top meadow the energy they’ll need for the long migration back to the Southern Hemisphere!
So next time there’s a daddy long-legs in your house, put it out and know it’s filling a vital role in nature. Our magnificent cranefly population might not draw many visitors, but the spotted flycatchers are worth a look! Hurry though- time, tide and migratory birds wait for no man, especially when fuelled by lots of tasty craneflies!