Head to head
Crane Fly vs Mosquito
A crane fly bumbling around a lamp looks like a mosquito that has been enlarged several times, and it is widely believed to be a mosquito predator, hence the names mosquito hawk and mosquito eater. It is neither dangerous nor a hunter of mosquitoes. The mosquito, by contrast, is tiny and, through the diseases it spreads, kills more people than any other animal.
| Crane Fly | Mosquito | |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Tipulidae (crane flies) | Culicidae (mosquitoes) |
| Body length | 1 to 6 cm, plus very long legs | About 3 to 6 mm |
| Does it bite? | No; cannot pierce skin | Females bite and take blood; males do not |
| Adult feeding | Most do not feed at all; some sip nectar or water | Nectar for both sexes; blood for egg-laying females |
| Larvae | Leatherjackets, in soil, eating roots | Wrigglers, in standing water |
| Disease risk | None | Malaria, dengue, yellow fever, Zika, West Nile and more |
| Adult lifespan | A few days to about two weeks | Weeks to a few months |
| Does it eat mosquitoes? | No, despite the nicknames | No |
Crane Fly vs Mosquito: common questions
Do crane flies eat mosquitoes?
No. This is the origin of the names mosquito hawk and mosquito eater, and it is simply wrong. Adult crane flies are not predators of anything. Many have no working mouthparts, and the rest take at most a little nectar or water before they die within a few days. Nothing about a crane fly reduces the mosquito population. The confusion comes entirely from the resemblance, since a crane fly looks like a scaled-up mosquito, and from wishful thinking. If you want insects that actually eat mosquitoes, look to dragonflies, some beetles, and mosquitofish, whose larvae and adults do prey on them.
How do I tell a crane fly from a really big mosquito?
Size alone is usually enough, because no mosquito gets anywhere near the size of a crane fly; a mosquito is a few millimetres long, while a crane fly's body can be several centimetres and its leg span larger still. Look also at the mouth: a mosquito has an obvious forward-pointing needle, the proboscis, whereas a crane fly's head tapers to a short blunt snout with nothing needle-like. Crane flies are also clumsy, slow fliers that crash into walls and lights and rest with their wings spread or swept back, while mosquitoes are small, agile, and quiet until they are near your ear.
Which one should I actually worry about?
The mosquito, without question. Crane flies are a harmless nuisance indoors and their larvae can brown a patch of lawn, but they pose no risk to health. Mosquitoes are, by the usual count, the animal responsible for the most human deaths in the world, because several species carry parasites and viruses that cause malaria, dengue, and other serious diseases. Reducing standing water where mosquito larvae grow, using screens and repellent, and supporting disease control programmes all matter. A crane fly in the house just needs to be let back outside.