I’m having to remove at least two Daddy long legs (Crane fly) from the house every day. If I open the door on an evening, there are always a number of them sleeping on the outside of it. There were a few buzzing around at my parents house in Bradford the other day.
Are we having an invasion? Has anyone else noticed a huge influx of crane fly?
An interesting symptom of this seems to be that spiders, due to their new diet of giant flies, are now growing much larger too. So now we have gianormous spiders skulking around hunting and eating even bigger flies. I fear for the lives of our cats, although they seem to be having fun hunting and catching the flies too.
UPDATE: In addition to Leeds and Bradford, I’ve now had reports of huge flies and spiders in Huddersfield too.
UPDATE: To repell these flies get some Citronella oil apply it around your doors and windows, perhaps dousing some small pieces of cloth. To get rid of ones that have already got in I just recommend catching them in your cupped hands and throwing them outside. If you’d prefer that the ones you miss don’t lay eggs all around your house, get some fly paper to catch those stragglers. Mass killing and torturing of them achieves nothing long term; you’ll just end up in Buddhist hell.
September 15th, 2005 at 18:56
and halifax :P
September 18th, 2005 at 15:07
yes i have seen a marked increase in crane fly this year,in fact the things are driving me nuts. been browsing the web about them and the advice ranges from leave them be they are no harm,to kill them all because they will kill your lawn. must admit the grub stage is one ugly mother.
September 19th, 2005 at 15:46
There is a theory in the ancient Vedic scriptures of India that God didn’t create the world. He created all the elements only and then gave the actual job of putting them together to another guy, called Brahma. That might explain the reason behind the crane-fly, and quite a few other things aswell?
Think about it …
September 19th, 2005 at 16:39
Harry: Most scientists know that the simplest explanation is usually correct. The simplest explanation here is that you’re a crackpot.
September 22nd, 2005 at 09:51
Only 2 a day!
I’m clearing out about 20 a day at the moment but that’s because the windows are being left open due to having the painters in.
Apparently, the plague of the flying beasts is due to the lack of wasps this summer who normally eat the crane-fly lava (leatherjackets).
So wasps do have a purpose!
September 22nd, 2005 at 17:02
THE CRANE FLIES ARE SO NUMEROUS IN MY HOUSE THAT THE SPIDERS ARE MASSIVE ON SUCH AN ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF FOOD.
FORTUNATELY MY 13 YEAR OLD JACK RUSSEL IS STILL ABLE TO CATCH BOTH — HE SPOTS THE SHADOWS CAST AS THEY DASH ACROSS THE CARPET AND POUNCES!
September 23rd, 2005 at 09:16
Ok - you got me John I am actually a ‘crackpot’
But no I’m not going to put my efforts into making childish insults at people who hold different views to my own. It is a fact however that throughout history most scientists don’t agree on anything.
September 23rd, 2005 at 12:56
Harry: What other response could I give? I assumed your comment was just a bit of fun. It isn’t rooted in reality. It doesn’t even make sense. It’s a pointless comment as far as I can see. Applying that logic to things goes nowhere.
me: “I crashed my car and now I have to fill in all these insurance forms, why IS that?”
me: “Strange how time keeps going forward without ever getting tired, why IS that?”
me: “I got custard in my eye and it now stings, why IS that?”
harry: “You’ll need to have a chat with Brahma about it”
or am I missing some subtle nuance of your original comment? (seriously)
September 24th, 2005 at 11:46
Similar sort of problem down here in the South (NW London) every evening theres between 2 and 10 of the creepy things crashing into the lamp or sat on the wall. I don’t mind most insects but these things fly / float around in a completely random fashion.
Does anyone know where they tend to nest and when their season finishes?
Having a wasp free summer was great (especially for Ice cream lovers like me) but I guess theres always a trade off.
September 27th, 2005 at 23:10
We are innundated in Nantwich too, i’ve never seen so many daddy longlegs, at least ten a night. As for the spiders, well they are just unbelievable at the moment. I wouldn’t say they were big but one of them kicked the dog off the couch the other night and later his brother was seen TRYING to duck under the the bookcase. It doesn’t stop there either, this evening I threw one out into the garden and he had the nerve to chase me back up the path and then lock me out!
Ok , so maybe I am exagerating - just a bit. Seriously though we have far too many of those creepy longlegs things and seriously the spiders are huge and numerous too. Enough of a problem for me to actually try to find out why. So here I am!
Also, before I fly off (pardon the pun). Does anyone know why crane fly are only ever around in September? My ten year old asked this evening how much longer they were going to be around. The questions then went from strength to strength and I had to admit I didn’t know but would try to find out for her. She asked if they flew off to another country for the winter. I smiled and told her they didn’t live long enough. So anyway can anyone help here please? Do the leatherjackets live in the ground for then entire year until next September?
September 27th, 2005 at 23:52
I hate them. East London is swarming with the bastards. Kill Kill Kill!
September 28th, 2005 at 21:14
Well I am pleased other people are spending their leisure time investigating the sudden increase in daddy long legs, it makes me feel like less of an obsessed nutter, but seriously apart from the fact that I have harboured a fear of these things since early childhood, there are sooo many this year its unbelievable. I live in Bradford and where we are there seems to be hundreds every night(might be a slight exageration but they run into the dozens at the very least). I too can state that I agree there IS an increase in the huge leggy, extremely fast running house spiders as well. I have literally been taking 3 or 4 out of the house every day, and that doesn’t include the ones that our rather agile cats catch and devour at any opportunity. I am convinced by now they must be the same ones coming back to taunt me! I am only stopping short of carrying out a marking experiment on one of the spiders to prove or disprove this theory on the basis that my children may lose all respect for me altogether and it would really be fostering my paranoia.
October 3rd, 2005 at 14:43
The increase in the number of dll’s this year has been incredible.I am absoloutley petrified of these insects,i baulk just at the thought of one.They get into my conservatory and i am like a mad woman trying to vacum them up with the extension.And spiders!!!At least 10 so far,whoppers aswell,one of whom thought it would be hysterical to hide behind the bath sponge and give me a nice surprise when i got in the shower.
October 4th, 2005 at 22:55
Very satisfying page to discover (via google) while having my train of thought derailed by DLLs crashing around inside the lampshades. Definitely think there’s more of ‘em this year. (West London.) Also enjoyed the rest of the site, John.
October 6th, 2005 at 22:39
I thought I’d be a bit of an anorak and investigate these annoying flying things that bug me around this time every year - and was pleasantly surprised to find this website. I didn’t know anything about these creatures, but now I do, thanks to you John and your fellow posters.
I hate the Crane fly and whack them whenever they’re in my house. Bloody thing’s can never fly straight, one flew right into my ear today before being terminated. It had to die I tell you.
Roll on November or whichever month these creatures disappear as I want to open my windows again.
October 10th, 2005 at 00:06
well, we are in october now so there are fewer DLL’s but we have not noticed a decrease in the house spiders, i am just hoping its because we had a house extension etc and they were all disturbed etc, but i am worried. I have to put a big one out every day, i don’t like to harm them, but i wonder if its the same ones keep coming back and if i should put them out away from home? any ideas?
October 11th, 2005 at 15:31
This post has been rather popular. Thanks for the all the feed back.
btw, I’ve not killed even one of these. I’ve got rather good at cupping them in my hands and letting them go outside. Though, for all I know, I may only be plagued by one fly that keeps getting back in.
I do find lots of DLL carcasses around. Mostly in the sink, but one found it’s way into the gas hob and looked rather charred.
October 23rd, 2005 at 18:35
Well, there’s still a few left in North East england, but bloody hell I never saw anything like last month. Oddly enough I googled Daddy Long Legs invasion like everybody else……..and ended up here, like everybody else.
I remember one day walking around town in September and every single house had tens of the pointless floaty bastards perched on the window sills and doors. Must have been millions in total, like a plague of pointless floaty locusts whacking into your face as you wander along. I thought “there must be something wrong here”, and here I am!
May 14th, 2006 at 12:45
HELP!!!! May the 13th and there I was, down in Kent, lovely evening, door open and there, in the kitchen were TWO daddy long legs. Why NOW I ask?
What does the lava look like? Is it a wiggly grub of which I seem to find by the dozen in my garden at the moment????
June 13th, 2006 at 09:52
I am absolutely terified of the DLL, even saying the name sends shivers up my spine. And again WHY, beginning of June and i have seen several of them. So now the first thing i do when i get out of bed is search the house to make sure none of them have got in over night. I cannot even go in the same room as one. God do i sound pathetic, a 40yr old scared of a DLL!!
June 13th, 2006 at 23:20
I bought a spidder sucker off of eBay a couple of days ago and its great, I just suck them up! Still trying to find the last one though - its gone missing!
Adam
June 13th, 2006 at 23:26
Great News! I managed to locate, suck & chuck the final (well it better be!) daddy long legs from my house seconds after writting my last post!
Thanks, Adam
June 17th, 2006 at 22:39
haha for adults some of you arent very mature..
anywaayz… do the one with spikes on the sting you? ive been told they do.. :S but then people say they dont harm u
they come in my room at night and im scared im gna get killed by a crane fly!!
now i have an excuse to be immature.. im only 16 :D
July 4th, 2006 at 09:12
So I’m not alone…..I have fear of these damn things. I know they can’t harm….but those long dangly legs flapping about…ugh! I heard though that even though they can’t bite us they do contain poisons. Are they harmful for our pets when they eat them?
July 5th, 2006 at 07:40
So glad i found this site!! DDL are evil, invading our homes, doing press ups on our walls. They disgust and horrify me - slept on the sofa last night as two of the devil’s disciples flew over me in bed. Sad i know..
How long can each one live?
July 12th, 2006 at 22:06
Was interested in this site. I train First Aid for my living and recently whilst dealing with the Poisons session of the course one of my students came straight out with the following statement “Did you know that Crane Flies or DDL are very venomous insects” at this the remainder of the delegates started to laugh. The original spokesperson then added that although they are very venomous they can not harm us because they do not have the necessary biting and injecting parts to use the venom they possess.
July 23rd, 2006 at 23:37
Wow, the daddy long legs are quite famous now. There are quite a few up here in Inverness to, huge ones, supermacro! One stole the baseball cap of my head tonight!No seriously, i don’t like their random flight and whirring noise either. However, they only live for a few days, and they never eat as adults - just drink water and live to mate. Respect to the little fellas i say.
ross g
September 3rd, 2006 at 16:16
3rd September 2006
Whole year passed since this forum started… and since I moved into my new house. Long overgrown lawn which disappeared over the next few weeks, eaten by lavae of crane fly. Spent all year seeding and re-growing new lawn which now looks great!!!! But guess what DLL’s back with vengeance laying their dirty eggs all over again. Help, how can I kill the lavae before they start to eat my lawn for the second time.
September 5th, 2006 at 20:13
Glad i have found a site on Daddy long legs, you have no idea how much i have searched on these little critters over the last week! I was bitten by one last week! YES I KNOW (they don’t bite thing) BUT I WAS! While out re seeding my grass last friday, i felt a sort of buzzing in my trouser leg, (you know the one where the daddy long legs bounces off the walls sound) I suddenly felt a burning sensation at the back of my leg, i grabbed the thing through my jeans panicking that a wasp was up my trouser leg, i quickly managed to whip off one trouser leg and slowly holding the other eased it off, i started having palpations and felt rather dizzy, i sat down and told my husband to shake my trousers outside to get rid of the wasp, NO WASP except a half squashed DLL complete with wings and six legs! The back of my calf had two tiny pin hole marks with blood streaming from them! A week on and my leg still aches when i walk! can anyone find anything on the web about this, i have searched everywhere but have found nothing!
September 6th, 2006 at 14:51
Ha! Just found this site about the daddy long legs! What a relief that’s is not just us! We have a massive problem in Scholes, near Bradford, since we moved into our house 2 weeks ago! Got literally hundereds of the blooming things on each window every day. Swarms of them fly towards the house when I walk past or put the lights on! Can’t open the door to let the dog out otherwise the room is filled with them! (yep, the dog loves chasing them!)
Can’t say I’m looking forward to the bloated spiders, which I’m sure will soon follow either.
Still. Its better than wasps I suppose!!
Help?
How do stop them from ruining the lawn?
Julie
xxx
September 6th, 2006 at 21:03
we have a so many here in widnes i can never remember this many ddl’s in my life if i look at my back lawn its actually moving with them and doors have to be opened carefully! as for them being poisonous i hope not coz my dogs just ate a few !
September 6th, 2006 at 23:27
They are EVERYWHERE here in Leeds too. My question is though, why are there fewer wasps? I manage a massive school-ground, and the grass - acres of it - is wearing a brown wig! I strimmed the front of the school today and disturbed thousands of them. Were they laying eggs?
September 7th, 2006 at 10:27
Wasps feed on leatherjackets and there are fewer wasps this year so more DLLs.
DLLs just look ridiculous with those gangly legs flapping around and their drunken flight patterns. Can’t say they scare me, but it is annoying when they come into the room and start buzzing your head and smacking into things. They are a doddle to kill though - no reflexes to speak of.
September 7th, 2006 at 23:03
I don’t kill them, I put them outside. Does anyone know why their are fewer wasps around?
September 8th, 2006 at 00:12
This afternoon, I watched a huge flock of starlings feasting on the crane flies on the school grounds that I care for. Starlings were endangered recently, millions were killed by a mystery virus. Hopefully, this glut of flies will aid their full recovery.
September 11th, 2006 at 01:46
I hate these things. I have removed 5 from my house today, totalling about 20-30 this week!
There’s also at least 5 crane fly corpses stuck in my hall lights (which have a bracket around them).
Last year they really made my life HELL as I have a big fear of anything with multiple, gangly legs, and a lesser fear of flying insects. Combine the two and it’s my worst nightmare.
This year hasn’t been so stressful though, I bought this thing called a bug buster which is like a hand held portable vacuum that humanely sucks up insects so I can kick them out of the house.
It’s primarily for spiders (what I originally bought it for) but it works fine on other annoying bugs like moths and daddy long legs.
Even pretty huge ones!
This is the web site:
http://www.buyabugbuster.com/
Only a tenner and well worth it!
I don’t work for this company or anything, I just really rate the product. If it wasn’t for this I’d have been spending most of my nights sleeping on a sofa!
September 11th, 2006 at 16:06
i am so terrified of Dlls that i turn into a crazy woman, i always fall out with my husband at this time of the year as even though my logical mind knows that he moves as fast as taz to get rid of them but the mad part of me just sees him moving in slow motion. does anyone pleeeease have any ideas of repeling them.
September 11th, 2006 at 21:24
I hate these things man!!!!
Im paranoid there driving me insane. how do kill these Duttie Things. there everywhere in sheffield stupid daddy long legg crane dumm @ss spider creatures why cant they just dissapear off da face of the earth :(
And dey betta not come bak how you stop dere eggs from hatching it cud be happening write now as i type there everywhere in Sheffield Watchin my every move probralby rite now 2 :O
soz ’bout da spelling (+ slang) give a dll crane fly haselled kid a break im only 13:D
September 11th, 2006 at 21:26
I hate these things man!!!!
Im paranoid there driving me insane. how do kill these Duttie Things. there everywhere in sheffield stupid daddy long legg crane dumm @ss spider creatures why cant they just dissapear off da face of the earth :(
And dey betta not come bak how you stop dere eggs from hatching it cud be happening write now as i type there everywhere in Sheffield Watchin my every move probralby rite now 2 :O
soz ’bout da spelling (+ slang) give a dll crane fly haselled kid a break im only 13 :D
September 12th, 2006 at 09:10
The larvae hatch late August and take about ten days to mature into DLLs. That’s why we have them early September!
September 12th, 2006 at 10:45
I hate them, they are driving me mad, I cant open my windows because I am in fear of being attacked. When will they go?
September 12th, 2006 at 11:58
Well, I really thought it was just me! I am absolutely terrified of DLL’s, I moved out into the country-side in Ireland for the beauty and peacefullness and now I daren’t leave the bloody house! the car is parked at the end of our long path and it is like running the gauntlet, trying to reach the car before get hit by one of these dangly gangly wierdy things! I find it ridiculous that this is making such an impact on my life but I can’t help it.
I have an intense fear of spiders, especially long legged ones, so long legged beasties that fly?! OMG! how worse can it get?
When do these things die off, soo I hope?
Maybe I should just spray the grass in petrol and set it alight so they don’t come back next year! :-D
September 12th, 2006 at 14:36
DLL IS THE ONLY POISONOUS INSECT INDIGINOUS TO BRITISH ISLES (APPARENTLY/ALLEDGEDLEY)BUT I WAS TOLD THAT THEY ARE OR MAYBE NOW IT IS WERE UNABLE TO PENERTRATE OUR SKIN AND THEREFORE ONLY ANNOY THE HELL OUT OF US. MY SON HAD TO DRIVE TO HIS GIRLFRIENDS HOUSE AT 2.30 A.M. TO GET ONE OUT OF HER BEDROOM AS SHE WAS CRYING DOWN THE PHONE FOR AN HOUR. MORE FOOL HIM I SAY….. BUT THERE SURE SEEM TO BE AN INVASION OF THE GANGLE CRITTERS THIS YEAR. COUILD IT BE THELONG DRY JULY AND THEN THE VERY WET AUGUST FOLLWED BY A WARM SEPTEMBER?
OR ARE THEY ACTUALLY TAKING OVER THE PLANET………..OH MY GOD WE’RE DOOMED……….. P.
September 12th, 2006 at 14:38
REFERENCE MY PREVIOUS MESSAGE, STUPID ME I FORGET TO MENTION WERE THIS INVASION OF D L L IS. I LIVE IN THE PARTICULARLY BEAUTIFUL NORTH EAST, I MIDDLESBROUGH. IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME COME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF.
CHEERS FROM PAMELA.
September 12th, 2006 at 15:54
i am in peterborough, i got chased out of the bloody pub last night by these devil things only made worse by the laughter that followed me out by the oh so sympathetic alcys only to walk in the house to get smacked in the face by one (Dll not alcy) fell out with my husband as of course it was his fault it was in the house (not) today walked the kids home from school, they ran onto the grass and i swear if i wasnt to frightened of the fact the whole field seemed to rise with them i would have fainted, but the worse thing of all this is that i am looking like a complete fruit loop, mad woman, its comforting to know i am not alone in my fear, disgust and torment, if we just kill them off i will buy the wasps an ice cream and the birds cream cakes so they dont starve.
September 12th, 2006 at 16:13
we have gazillions of the things here … I mowed the lawn last night & it was a like a scene from a plague movie …
grass looks OK so far .. the July hot weather did more damage
September 12th, 2006 at 21:39
just thought i should set the record straight.
the daddy long legs we are talking about are actually Crane Flies, the daddy long legs (an actual spider) is the insect with a powerful venom but cannot penetrate human skin.
WE seem to have loads of the buggars here in Aylesbury, Bucks too!
Also i seem to be catching more and more spiders that really do seem to be getting bigger and bigger in size!
And dont start ,e on the number we have in webs just “floating” in the sky in our garden!!
September 13th, 2006 at 02:04
Loads here in Wolverhampton too.Left the window open in our study last night to find 21 of the bloody things on the walls in the morning.Hundreds outside too.Seems like a few on everybodys house,especially those that have a white surface somewhere.The lawns look ok,but there are thousands of ants and flying ants on that ,so maybe they are killing some leatherjackets?
September 13th, 2006 at 10:33
OMG!! The more I read, the more paranoid I am becoming!! reading the message from Steve about finding all those DLL’s in the house!
I have one window open in the house and I have pinned a piece of net curtain over the opening so none of the little b*$&*”d’s can get in!
I did have to get my partner to remove 2 spiders from the bedroom last night which is unusual! All I can say about the spiders is get a bloody move on and eat the gangly little blighters quick! is it nearly the end of DLL’s season yet?, My nerves can’t cope much longer
September 13th, 2006 at 14:56
Just take a look at the buggers on google images!!! I just get hold of them turn the lights out and throw them out of the window.
Earwigs!! Now they are nasty little things and I keep finding them in dark corners. If you try and get them in a glass they rear up at you.
September 13th, 2006 at 15:26
I am that scared of them that when I checked up on google, I had to turn my pictures off! I can’t even cope with looking at pics of them!
Now come on, that is really phobic isn’t it! lol
Funny enough (well actually it wasn’t) I just found an earwig in my laundry basket but I coped with that!
In March-May we had a plague of millipedes of which most round here had never even seen one before!! the world is going mad and I am close behind :-D
September 13th, 2006 at 15:31
I heard a couple of the blighters talking about there invasion plan the other day. Seems they want to take over the whole blasted world, and make it into one giant DLL nest.
Get them! Kill them! Save yourslelf and while you can!
Stupid flippin insects.
They also said that their random flying pattern is in fact a very sophisticated way or tormenting humans, as we don’t know where they are going next.
Kill them all!
September 13th, 2006 at 16:18
I believe that bit about their flying pattern, that it is just to torment us! lol
I really don’t like killing anything but with these I make an exception! I liked the person who liked to chase them round the room with a lighter!! lol
Just what is their purpose in life????
(apart from to scare the crap out of me)!
September 13th, 2006 at 22:00
All around the Forest of Dean and Gloucestershire….
Seriously, this is a good time to become an exterminator…
September 13th, 2006 at 22:02
ONES HAVING BABIES IN MY ROOM I SWEAR.
i just pulled a leg of one of them.
if anyone needs sam the exterminators services, just gimme a bell.
eugh they gross!!!!
September 13th, 2006 at 23:17
DDL are planning to take over the world they are working as undercover agents who with the help of Chineese restaurants will become the dominant species
September 13th, 2006 at 23:24
omg!!! i have killed about 5 in my room tonight they piss me off lol they r so innoyin for some reson they is like a billion hanngin around my house at the moment lol
September 14th, 2006 at 00:46
I’m from Bradford as well. Just having a quick look on internet about the little buggers cos theres literally hundreds of them round our sixth form if their not sat on the outside of the window they’ve got in some how and are flyin round aimlessly creeping people out. JEEZ THEY ARE SO ANNOYIN. I managed to catch one and pull every single leg off (which is hard when you get to the last one and there’s nothing to hold onto at the other side) but it could still fly it did for about a minute before dying of exhaustion and stress.
September 14th, 2006 at 01:09
I’m ducking everywhere i walk now cuz the things just like flying at me.
And the spiders, seriously when is it going to stop i can’t get to sleep i can just here there wings scraping off the walls!
There has been one of my living wall for the past 2 hours, lazy annoying MASSIVE idiots.
September 14th, 2006 at 02:14
Simon W, that is SICK. Either kill them outright or put them outside.
September 14th, 2006 at 03:39
Y do they always insist on flying into your head? i dont mind them but i cant relax knowing one is guna come trundling into my head every 2 mins! i couldnt understand how evolution hadnt filtered them out, but (thanks to this website) i know they dont need to eat! genius! they will soon learn not to come near me tho!!
September 14th, 2006 at 08:09
Thank God for the Internet!! Best laugh I have had in a long time reading this website! Like everyone else my own house is invaded when we leave the door open - but its good sport catching them in the hand (Score 1 point for a static capture - 5 points for one that is in flight) and chucking them back outside. I’m not religious or vege but doesn’t everything have a right to live wherever possible? Have had a few shed a leg or two though when caught to escape my clutches - does anyone know if these things feel pain or if they can regenerate a new leg?
September 14th, 2006 at 10:11
I am sooo pleased it’s not just me - i was begining to think that i was in a neverending nightmare!! I have never known anything like it. I hate spiders but at least when they are on the floor or walls we can catch them or run for our lives!!! Which evil being created spiders with wings??
I live with a mate (both women) so we haven’t got a chance in hell of removing them as we are both terrified of the horrible things. We are having to just try to be brave until the blasted thing die . . . . and by that time we have a whole new family of DDL moved in!
I realise i sound ridiculous but PLEASE does anyone know what we can do to repel them so we can start living a normal life again!!!!
September 14th, 2006 at 10:17
I live near Leicester and I counted 30 in my bathroom this morning! Where have they all come from? They even tried to have a bath with my husband last night, cheeky little buggers. The ones I killed in my bedroom have mysteriously vanished, do they disintegrate?
September 14th, 2006 at 11:23
DLL’s usually disappear by end Sept…. however the eggs they are laying in your lawn will soon start to feed on your grass roots, turning it yellow and eventually killing it. The lave, having filled themselves for the winter hybernation on your lovely juicy grass will hatch around April when we will suffer round two of the DLL’s swarms. My garden is also overrun with tiny frogs… slimy dirty creatures… but I was happy to see one jump high and eat a DLL’s so hopefully this will help my lawn.
Feel awful though, have made the kids paranoid about them!!!! L.O.L.
September 14th, 2006 at 11:32
To repell these flies get some Citronella oil apply it around your doors and windows, perhaps dousing some small pieces of cloth. To get rid of ones that have already got in I just recommend catching them in your cupped hands and throwing them outside. If you’d prefer that the ones you miss don’t lay eggs all around your house, get some fly paper to catch those stragglers. Mass killing and torturing of them achieves nothing long term; you’ll just end up in Buddhist hell.
September 14th, 2006 at 13:30
I’m in Edinburgh and they are suddenly everywhere!!! I was at a bus stop yesterday and it was swamped in them! When will they just go away? They are in the house, car, supermarket and even in the kitchen sticking to the butter(quite funny as it makes it difficult to fly off)
When my brother was a kid he used to take their legs off and fire them like torpedos!!
September 14th, 2006 at 14:41
maybe just maybe the reason they make our lives hell is because we deserve it we pull off there legs, how wrong is that, one day evolution will cause them to grow mouth pieces just so they can use their venom to poison us so we wont pull off their legs anymore, i am still terrified and want them dead but pleeeaaase guys dont pull their legs off its just mean.
September 14th, 2006 at 16:05
Can’t believe this site exists!!! - i went searching for information wondering if daddy long-legses lived in nests (and if so, if there could be such a nest hidden somewhere in my house) as I just can’t figure how so many of them are getting in: I’ve removed 15 today in Leicester. Incidentally, there was a wasp’s nest at the back of my garden (until a week or so ago) which gives the lie to the idea that the increase is due to a lack of wasps! Luckily i don’t freak about catching the beasts in my hand to put them safely outside…
September 14th, 2006 at 16:19
This is a crisis situation DLL are taking over the world they are scouts from another planet they will become the dominant species we all need to act now imagine what will happen with all these bastards breeding yikees !!
September 14th, 2006 at 16:21
There are at least 10,000 attached to the drab grey metallic exterior of the two-storey buiding I work in so diligently each day. I love ‘em - more interesting than work.
September 14th, 2006 at 18:42
THEY ARE EVERYWHERE
September 14th, 2006 at 19:26
Can someone please tell me how to get rid of these besides stamping on them!!
September 14th, 2006 at 19:53
cats seem to love chasing these idiotic insects!! DAMN the’re stupid
September 14th, 2006 at 21:56
Glad I found this site, im getting increasingly irrated by these little barsts! Im not scared of them but I find myself in a war everynight before I goto bed, Cause I just cant sleep with that horrible nise they make when flying against the wall. All they are is flying food.
September 14th, 2006 at 22:06
I’ve noticed a huge influx in the population of these things in the last couple of years, specifically last year and this year.
I am more then afraid of them. Every time I see one, I shiver with fear and anger, my reflexes and sight are dulled, and I start breathing faster, experiencing heart palpatations. I just found two in my house downstairs, but I live with my parents who refuse to understand my fear. I try to exterminate them with “fly spray”, when parents aren’t around to stop me, but I can not bring myself to touch them.
September 14th, 2006 at 22:54
WOW like everyone else was searching net for info on the pests! Totally agree! My solution-suck them up in the hoover!! Got in from work and had to perform this operation before I put the kettle on!! Have shut all windows(husband says we will suffocate) but they are still getting in!!!!
September 15th, 2006 at 00:03
im also very scared of them! parents think im stupid, saying whos bigger u or the DDL? i cant b in the same room as one jus thinkin about the damn fly sends shivers dwn my spine!!!!!
September 15th, 2006 at 02:10
DLL’s have caused absolute caos in my house this evening i have had to scream for my younger sister to come and shoo at least 25 of the nasty things out of the house. I have noticed a huge increase in them. My older sister thought it was hilarious to throw one at me earler which caused even more caos. I am petrified of them have had panic attacks over them does anyone know when they will go!!!!!
September 15th, 2006 at 02:41
they sure are disturbing, in general i dont mind flies or aerial insects flying around, but these creatures are gigantic and almost move in an unorthodox manner causing noise too, extremely awkward, very irritating if your trying to sleep, i live in a semi-detached house and they seem to consume a huge amount of area outdoors. What is frustrating is the reason i went on holiday in the summer because i had proclaimed that leicester/england would be dissapointing in terms of sunshine, as i enjoyed the rays in the city of duba and i come back to this, i do not mean any disrespect to no-one but (it has nothing to do with hygiene) its seems like a third world country, actually thats a harsh comment, well its very frustrating and i hope these creatures dispurse far away from england, and i also ask when will this annoyance finish? hopefully before christmas. Abed Hossain, 16
September 15th, 2006 at 02:41
try buying an UV fly zapper, like the food shops have, leave it on at night and the house will be clear of them a.m. if youre lucky - dont release them outside all you’ll do is add to the population - the grubs, so called leather jackets thrive on plant roots esp. long established grass land
September 15th, 2006 at 08:39
Well it rained really heavily in Edinburgh last night and I’ve still seem them floating about looking for someone to annoy!!
Surely the skinny so and so’s wont be around much longer!!
September 15th, 2006 at 09:07
how do I keep daddylong legs out of my home
September 15th, 2006 at 11:45
Hmm,
Well I came looking for reassurance that I wasn’t mad and have discovered that I actually am mad but so is a huge percentage of the population.
I know they can’t hurt me, are smaller than me etc but I hate them, I hate them with a vengence. They are destrying my life. We send hours going up and downstairs at night to get rid of the ones that make the children scream then we climb into bed shattered and any chance of a sex life we have seems to be seriously hampered by the noise of the buggers hitting the wal and me trying to hide under the duvet leaving my partner outside until he has caught them
ROLL ON WINTER!!!!
September 15th, 2006 at 13:51
Tesco delivered our weekly shopping to us in Worcestershire last night at 8:15pm along with about 50 DLLs. Our 6 month old kitties spent the whole night gleefully chasing the critters and munching on them but several still managed to evade the beasties’ jaws and flitted around our bedroom all flippin’ night. Glad others feel the need to rant about these dratted insects too!
September 15th, 2006 at 13:53
Does anyone know what they are doing to make that noise, rubbing their legs together maybe??
It’s a creppy horror movie type noise.
September 15th, 2006 at 14:52
for those people who cant cope with them and live with people who are likely to chase you with them, get yourselves a can of normal fly killer not the extra strong stuff as this for some reason isnt as effective on dlls but before you spray make sure you have an exit route spray then run run as fast as you can as their mental flying pattern gets speeded up and they will come and get you, if you have to take the kids to the park for example then sit ina spot where there are a lot of dragon flies as i dont know if they feed on dlls but there are less of them where the dragon flies are. believe it or not i dont sit and think of these things its years of being terrified of them, when you have a phobia you get a survival instinct kick in and the above are my top tips as well as keeping all windows closed,
September 15th, 2006 at 15:08
Everybody needs to chill out. Yes there has been an increase in crane fly but there has also been an increase in spiders who lay webs that catch the crane fly. Nature takes care of itself if you leave it alone. Insecticides are bad and may contain harmful chemicals, these in turn affect other insects and so the cycle is messed up. Don’t panic let the spiders do their job, make their webs and catch the crane fly. Spiders webs are free whereas fly tape is not.
September 15th, 2006 at 15:24
im terrified of dll. last nite i slept in ma mums bedroom coz there was 2 in my bedroom, and a couple of nights ago i slept downstairs on the sofa coz there was a dll and a wasp in my room. if anything i think its just the movement that freaks me out. i decided to research them to find out why there are so many at the moment, and it came up with a load of pictures- my skin began crawling. i got one on the floor in my living room at the moment, and i waz thinking about just grabbing it and throwing it out the window, but im also afraid of hurting it. (im wierd like that!)
September 15th, 2006 at 16:12
If increased numbers of DLL means bigger spiders, does that mean we’ll soon be having giant cats and birds everywhere? It’s a plot by the Birds/Animals and Insects to reclaim the world and soon there’ll be blogs about annoying little creatures called homo sapiens!!
September 15th, 2006 at 16:25
i cant believe how many there are. ive just spent at least half an hour chasing one round the room. ive kept my curtains closed cause its just so hot and i needed the window open. theres at least 10 trapped there now, what shal i do? they are driving me mad! i have to keep my flip flop to hand cause they freak me out!
September 15th, 2006 at 18:11
I’m terrified of them as well. Can’t sleep at all because they’re always buzzing around in the bedroom and I can’t sleep with one in the room.
They’re so dratted hard to kill as well, you take your eye off it for a second and it’s gone.
I might try the vacuum cleaner route tonight.
September 15th, 2006 at 20:15
I am seriously scared of these things, I have panic attacks just getting to my front door, its like a scene from The Birds except with crane flies!! I wack em and then vac em, The Bloke has to empty the hoover though!
September 15th, 2006 at 23:50
Well, Although I do get at least one a day of the daddy long legs - I am being terrorised by gigantic spiders! I was beginning to think that there was some sort of radioactive waste under my house or something make them huge - so glad to see I am not the only one!
September 15th, 2006 at 23:51
Oh, by the way - I am in Peterhead, Scotland
September 16th, 2006 at 12:14
we are crawling with daddy long legs at least 10 on the window 10 in the house! can answer where the wasps are - here in fife with our daddy long legs! we have both the buggers!
September 16th, 2006 at 13:49
Like so many on here I found this site whilst trying to research the little horrors.
We’re in Bradford and have between 5 and 10 everynight in the lounge. Best way to get rid of them is to stun them with a flip flop (who says they are only for Summer?) and either get the ten year old to remove them to the outside or the really peed off grown up to keep smacking them till they are dead! A good way to release the frustrations of the day!
September 16th, 2006 at 15:03
I am so glad I am not the only one suffering. Me and the kids are petrified of anything that flies and spiders of whatever size!!! Hubby has been working away so I have had to be brave and attempt to get rid of them - hoover comes in handy, but if you have a dyson, you can see them still and that’s worse cause they may well escape from that!!! We have various splodges of dead ddl’s and spiders on walls and when hubby returns, his first job will be to remove these!! Can’t ever remember seeing so many of the bloody ddl’s, but am hoping the season won’t last long - will they just gradually decrease and then all die?
September 16th, 2006 at 15:40
i hate daddy longlegs and i hate them flying in my room is there some sort of sprey to stop them from coming in ?????????????????????
September 16th, 2006 at 15:46
I hate daddy longlegs. They are every where it is soooooo anoying. I wake up in the middle of the night with one hovering around me,in the end ihave to call my mum and she is really grumpy at night and make her catch the flippen thing. I hate this time of season. IT SUCKS.
September 16th, 2006 at 19:24
I have TONs at the min. Am finding the dead ones and feeding them to the giant sized Spiders outside and watching them swarm around them! very amusing.
Am using hand and a lot o will power to remove them at min!
The buzzing at night seems extremly terrifying!!
September 16th, 2006 at 20:54
Am in Hertfordshire. Have just killed 10 of the hated little gits with my VAX. All I did (idiot that I am) was leave the back door open a crack for TEN minutes whilst I boiled up some spag. This means that if I left the door open for an hour, I’d have 60 of the buggers in my house. AND if I left the door open for a whole day I’d have 1,440 of ‘em. Dear God. They are currently hanging about on and around my front and back door. My house is like the bloody Book of Revelation. Have decided not to leave the house till end Sept. Think I have enough supplies. Wish me luck.
September 16th, 2006 at 22:50
Just arrived home to find my husband being invaded by hundreds of the horrible things. He is in a wheelchair and was attacking them with a walking stick! I got to work with the bug killer spray and within minutes they were performing a death dance on the floor only to be stamped upon by myself quickly to end their agony. Now I have to sweep up the corpses and dispose of them - not through an open window - perhaps down the loo. so Knebworth in Herts is also under attack. Why can’t I find evidence of them during the day so that they can be disposed of then? It has certainly helped hearing of everybody’s experiences.
September 17th, 2006 at 02:00
Does anyone call them ‘Jenny Long Legs’?
Maybe thats just the girlie ones!! ha ha
Let your spiders run free and they will kill the DLLS and JLLS. I have a graveyard of them in a web at the back of my conservatory!!
Spiders rock!!!
September 17th, 2006 at 07:39
We didn’t get these in Canada….I hate the damn things…they’re like a Daddy Long Leg Spider that can fly….and there’s nothing worse than a flying spider…they beat the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz hands down…I’m in Kent and there are tons of these annoying things here…
September 17th, 2006 at 10:38
I live in Hereford/Worcester border. We are INUNDATED. Literally hundreds in the grass outside, clouds of them.
Loads trying to get in the house.
You might try…if no one has mentioned before…to get rid of them at night…by attracting them to a light..found that works.
And yes, loads of huge spiders.
Not want to freak anyone out or anything….
September 17th, 2006 at 10:58
LOads in Nottingham too
September 17th, 2006 at 11:15
I have had enough of the annoying little things.I dont see one all day long,but hundreds All night long.Just last night me and my 2 kids caught and killed 15 of the little gits.My son takes great delight pulling there legs and wings off-is that wrong?Maybe why they seem to keep attacking me-payback!Anybody know what there attracted to and how to stop them?(keeping doors and windows shut all time is really not an option)Any usefull suggestions?
September 17th, 2006 at 11:41
Hey there,
What an amazing site to stumble across - like the most of us, whilst researching those aimless bastards. It’s becoming ritual now - every night it’s a frantic war with them! How is anyone supposed to get some shut-eye with that annoying buzzing?! Today, I found it quite amusing when I spotted one with some fluffy thing attached to it’s behind.
Anyhow..
Recently, i bought a bugbat from (drumroll please..)Ebay - originally intended for the flies in the summer which also happen to annoy the heck outta me.
But it also works fine on the ddls, basically its like a modern and nastier fly swat. Instead of flapping your arms wildly to kill the creatures all you need to do is hold it a few centimetres above them, press and hold down the little red button and laugh as the bitch gets barbeqed. Neat huh?
September 17th, 2006 at 11:44
barbequed**
September 17th, 2006 at 19:49
first year , i have noticed the crane fly.
and what a pest they are.. here in south cheshire. crewe in fact. i have between, 15 to 20 of the buggers every night. every room has them.. as soon as i open the window or back door. dozens of them fly in.. my lawn has started to go brown..dont know if that is down to them or not..
as for spiders .. i have not seen one bugger.
usually i have spiders nests in my front porch..
little white-ish fur, with small white eggs in..
around the light, or along the cement on the bricks.. not seen any yet…
so what is going on ?? less spiders . more crane flys.. anyone got any answers..
September 17th, 2006 at 20:45
Great Site and some great questions…but no answers???
September 17th, 2006 at 20:51
Amen. Here in Loughborough they’re HOOOOOOOOOGE. That’s really big. So large they leave a mark on the paintwork.
Global warming is to blame, that’s all. Increased temps mean our spiders move north and the cranefly move in to take their place.
Species migration is already being noted, give it 5 more years and we’ll be seeing gargantuan gecko’s in Swindon, feasting on these meaty cranefly…
September 17th, 2006 at 21:12
Random… we had this same problem last year and now they’re back with a vengence. The thing that is puzzling me beyond all is that I seem to read everywhere categorically that these crane flies don’t bite or sting… Well last year whilst sitting in bed watching a movie and eating (of all things, don’t judge me!) a pot noodle, i was interupted by a “manly” screach. It was my fiancee… one of these little beggers had swooped down onto his belly and he went to brush it off and it stung/bit him for sure. I turned round to find my fiancee’s face covered in pot noodle because he had jumped and it went EVERYWHERE!!! I saw the mark where he got stung/bit him… it wasn’t particularly spectacular but definately from an insect and it wasn’t there before. I was find “spicy curry” sauce on the bedroom wall for months!
September 17th, 2006 at 21:39
After having been petrified of spiders my whole life (37 years) - i had managed to cure my fear of daddy long legs even managing to cup them in my hand and throw them outside.
But after watching my bloke running around with a rolled up newspaper trying to kill them my paranoia is back with a vengeance.
And so i am very thankful (or maybe not!) to my bloke - who at the moment is sleeping in another room leaving me with our new born baby and the dlls to deal with all night long.
Roll on the cold weather :-)
September 17th, 2006 at 21:45
i hate these bl**** things!!! THEY ARE SOOOO ANNOYING, IVE NEVER NOTICED THEM BEFOR EBUT THEY ARE P**SING ME OFF SOOOO MUCH! THERE EVERYWHERE!!!
September 17th, 2006 at 22:44
A few truths about the crane fly or daddy long legs ,Not to be confused with the poisonous daddly long legs spider which is an entirley different creature and NOT a UK resident !
The crane flies (Tipulidae) are a family of insects resembling giant mosquitoes. Like the mosquito, they are in the order Diptera (flies). They are sometimes called mosquito eaters, mosquito hawks, or skeeter eaters. They are also one of three unrelated arthropods named Daddy long-legs. The other two are the harvestmen and vibrating, cellar or house spider. As such, Crane Flies are wrapped up in the myth of being the most poisonous spider, but unable to bite humans. This is incorrect: they are clearly insects rather than spiders, as they possess only six legs rather than the arachnid eight, and possess wings. Also, Crane flies do not bite humans. They drink only water when young and do not usually feed at all when they are adult, as they only live for a few days to mate.
In appearance they seem long and gangly, with very long legs, and a long slender abdomen. The wings are often held out when at rest, making the large halteres easily visible. Unlike mosquitoes, crane flies are weak and poor fliers, so they can be caught easily and without effort. However, it is very easy to accidentally break off their delicate legs when catching them, even without direct contact. This may help them to evade the birds who pursue them as prey.
So to summarise RELAX people they are not poisonous and will cause you no harm at all , they are only attracted to your house by the lights , the same way moths and most flying insects are .
catch them and chuck them outside and if you need the windows open and are that concerned get yourselves some net curtain and fix it over the openings .
Hope this clears up a few MYTHS
September 17th, 2006 at 22:52
Hi all, I hate these DLL’s! Have you noticed, whenever you think you’ve killed one (after a good whack) they seem to get up and fly again. I think they know their attacker as they fly aimlessly towards them.. probably in revenge.. help!
September 18th, 2006 at 06:24
Woke up @ 4:30 this morning with something clawing up my leg, yep 2 big f**k off dll
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
September 18th, 2006 at 13:00
When I leave the house, there is about 10 buzzing in the porch, and on the front doors, there are about 40, the windows are covered and they are flying around everywhere.
Now i don’t hate them and am not scared, but when you have this amount of them on your house, it tends to make you feel a bit sick and dirty!
ARRRGHHHH I cannot cope with the constant splattering.. how can i deter them? Bar uprooting the hedge and paving the lawn?
September 18th, 2006 at 13:42
Lots and lots. They have been invading my area for the past 2 weeks, and the spiders are having a field day… What is going on?
September 18th, 2006 at 19:22
Tonnes of the buggers this year again.
Havnt slept for the past 2 nights as they keep triggering the smoke alarm. WHEN DO THEY DIE?!?!?
Whacking them with my t-shirt provides a small element of entertainment.
How do they manage to dive-bomb your face in the dark?
is there some kind of lawn grub killer I can put down for next year?
September 18th, 2006 at 21:14
like reading all hte comments, only just found this site as I was winding up my familly about camel Spiders then my kids started moaning about the DLL`s. I find it amusing watching my two kids running to the toilet when one comes into the front room, i get the remote control at last!
September 18th, 2006 at 21:18
I live between peterbrough and huntingdon in the fens, I have at least 2 daddy long legs in each room of the house my dogs keep catching them all the peolpe at my work say they have never seen so many in there homes. Could there be something to do with the mild weather and the lack of rain fall that has made the flies breeding very sucessful this year. I also have noticed that the spiders are getting bigger and more beefy. I think my home has now been taken ove by ddl,giant spiders, bettles, and woodlice.
September 18th, 2006 at 21:56
Mnnnn…. Feed spiders, spiders multiply and grow bigger.
House full of big spiders …….
Could maybe live with that.
Their grub is a favorite meal of the wasp ….
House full of wasps ……
Wouldn’t want to live with that.
Anyone been to Florida where the ‘love bug’ introduced to control the mosquito is now so prevelent they swarm over everything during their breeding season - definately spoilt my holiday ( no I was not camping in the everglades - I was in a costly hotel in kissimee ).
Anyway lots of DLL’s indicate not many wasps - I guess if we have to have one or the other, then DLL’s seem the lesser evil.
I’d prefer neither, but hey can’t have everything.
September 18th, 2006 at 22:15
you dont know ya born when i was a lad whilste on my bike i swollowed a bee i can still remember feeling that fluffy ball going down my throat,funny though filled me up.
September 18th, 2006 at 22:38
You know the saying “One man’s meat is another man’s poison”
Well there is one positive thing about this time of year and the DLL….trout love em by golly!! The DLL are not very good at flying and get blown onto lakes and reservoirs where the resident trout do backflips, high fives and whoop with joy when the DLL start to accumulate in large numbers. This year seems to be particularly good for the gangley little buggers and being a keen fly fisherman I will be making some sandwiches in the morning and heading out with rod, reel and some immitation DLL flies.
I realise that this may do little for all of you that have written about the human struggle against these beasts and worry about the chance of small children being carried off by them and all that but as far as I am concerned they are like angels from heaven.
Long live the DLL (well…a day or two at least)
September 18th, 2006 at 22:55
Does anyone know why the hell they are called daddy long legs in the first place lol
They are doing my head in I must of killed about 12 last night everytime I went back in the kitchen there was another one there and all the windows were closed. And I swear there legs have got longer this year.
September 18th, 2006 at 23:20
I am so envious of those of you that have managed to type a coherent message during this time of crisis. Like most, here in Tunbridge Wells we have an influx of the aeronautical night stalkers. My fingers are shaking as I type as I can just hear one fumbling behind my bookshelves – I just know it is going to whoosh out at me any minute. My husband says he had 10 in the bathroom this morning – I am now using wet wipes and brushing my teeth in the kitchen – anything to avoid the bathroom until midday when it seems safe to go for a proper abulte. What I would dearly love to know is how can I train my cat to kill them? I don’t want to stave him or anything but he could at least to something to pay for his up keep?
September 19th, 2006 at 00:20
I think we seem to be having the same problems here int he midlands. There is a discussion too. Feel free to linkback
http://www.midlandsweather.org.uk/wildlife-nature/3599-abundance-crane-flys.html
September 19th, 2006 at 00:21
Well after being attacked by ddl`s whilst trying to watch a film, I have stummbled across this site too…. I am out in the fenlands and all I can say is that YES the spiders are growing FAR too big… even my cat has given up trying to catch them! and as for the gangley long legged no reason to be here ddl`s……hummm and why do they come out at this time of year??? Do they rally together like lost souls deep under the earth, trying to decide what to do to entertain them selves….. invade and have a laugh at us silly humans! Seems that way !!! But they do seem to be atracted to the lights.. which I have found to be slightly amusing…. serves them selves right for camma-carzy attacks!!! * ducks, yet another lands on my head!
September 19th, 2006 at 08:02
We have a few at our house (Cheltenham, near Gloucester), but at school the outside walls are covered in them. There must be hundreds there. Our dog likes eating them as well.
September 19th, 2006 at 10:25
for some reason this year on my 31st kind of started to quizz about dll too strange…..but glad i’m not the only one, any how its seems they dont have a great deal of purpose, and actually read somewhere that their legs detatch so easily to make them less vulnerable to birds trying to chomp them!….sat in the bath last night to find i was sharing it with a few of the blighters,although quite repulsed couldnt help but wonder if they felt any pain ….got quite sad and felt really quite sorry for them….!
September 19th, 2006 at 13:09
If you love (or hate) DLL think of poor me having a party Friday night with more than 50 (just the ones I counted) uninvited guests dive bombing my friends and enjoying the dips and any drink left unattended for 2 seconds - so truely an invasion here in Cambs.
The next morning I had DLL patterned carpet - NICE! - I guess they had all lost the will to live due to the horrendous karaoke singing!! So if you want them to go away just beg, steal or borrow a karoke machine! : D
p.s. and what about the ones that terrorise you in bed - do ours ears glow in the dark???
September 19th, 2006 at 13:12
ATTN other sarah: I believe they get their nickname from the Daddy Long Legs Spider. Just as freaky but a lot less likely to land on your head!!
September 19th, 2006 at 15:07
OK, so where’d the Daddy Long Legs Spider get it’s name from!?
They are just plain mean. They DO go for you at night, suck your blood, lay eggs in your eyes and s**t in your mouth. They probably lay their eggs, then knowing they’re gonna die, head for the nearest house to terrorise as their last act of evil.
Netting is no good, we have that but they just come in, sit behind the netting then find ways to walk round it. Besides it’s so hot, netting stops most of the airflow, so not practical to seal it round the gap of the window.
Lately, I use an old pillow which has proved best to squish em (put on top and twist a few times) and not lose em down the back of the sofa.
I read other recent articles, saying they’re near the end of the month that they fly, then to return to the soil for 10 months.
Well I’m gonna varnish the lawn next year!
September 19th, 2006 at 15:35
HELP!invasion of the daddy long legs,they r getting on me nerves sick of running round my bedroom at night trying to catch them ,then to find 20 more in the morning.
September 19th, 2006 at 15:52
Is it just here in Ireland or have you all in the UK noticed fewer of them over the last couple of days?
I am hoping and praying (not sure who to yet) that they are all DEAD, DEAD DEAD DEAD!!
Sorry, got carried away there!
IS THIS THE END FOR DDL’s??????
September 19th, 2006 at 16:04
Not DDL’s, DLL’s I meant!!! lol
September 19th, 2006 at 16:18
Ugh! They are so disgusting. They all float up from our clover strewn front lawn as soon as you open the front door in the morning, and last night I had a panic attack when I was awoken by a familiar fluttering sound as one found it’s way into the bedroom. That was at 4:30am and then I couldn’t get back to sleep. Not because I felt guilty about killing it, it was just the thought of another one making it’s way past the blind and the curtains. How do they do it?
However, I did notice that there was only one plastered to the front door this morning, so hopefully they are all dying horrible deaths all over the UK.
September 19th, 2006 at 16:23
I found out recently that they are they actually lay eggs inside the thorax of it’s host. There was a young girl from Mozambique that coughed one day and inadvertently gave birth to 1000 daddy long legs. She was beaming with pride.
S
September 19th, 2006 at 16:25
I don’t want to give away my identity so I will remain anomonous but I resent those comments. You should be ashamed victimising me , erm , them for having long legs!!
Kind regards Daddy
September 19th, 2006 at 16:26
Stop messing about on the PC daddy
Mum
September 19th, 2006 at 16:31
Just a suggestion to Jennifer no 140, why not keep your windows shut of a night, that way you won’t be woken up at 4.30am to the familar sound of a DDL fluttering around your bedroom.
September 19th, 2006 at 16:32
I agree with Diane (139), that’s a great call!
September 19th, 2006 at 16:47
In reply to ‘All the Best’, (no 144) - I would happily keep the bedroom window shut, but my husband suffers from flatulence, so I would die without the fresh air.
September 19th, 2006 at 17:09
The increase of new housing estates has lead to an increase in production of heavy building vehicles such as diggers, cement mixers and cranes, the natural habitat for a crane fly. As soon as all the houses have been built we shall be rid of all crane flies.
G
September 19th, 2006 at 17:31
I saw about 4/5 Daddy long legs on the wall whilst staying in a scummy hotel in birmingham at the weekend. No one would get rid of them and i cant bare to touch them so i had to deal with them and try and get some sleep. I swear to god one of those bastards came to me whilst i was sleeping and bit me on the top of my thight it has swollen up to the size of my fist and is itching like crazy. I know some poeple say that they cant bite but i cant think of any other explanation.
September 19th, 2006 at 23:21
I am sitting here at quarter past 11 waiting because there’s one in my bathroom and I can’t take a shower ’till it’s gone (sad, huh?) and I found this site while looking for tips to get rid of them without going near them. I can’t find any, but I’ll go check see if it’s gone in a mo. Grr. Am so tired but whole house is asleep so cannot get anyone to help and will have to sit it out. Goddamn creatures…
September 20th, 2006 at 00:59
i live in the north east town of stockton on tees and i agree there seems to be a hugh number of these horrible critters about this year, i am constanly shouting for my son or hubby to get rid of the dll’s as for the spiders!! i;m sure the ones in my house are either on steroids or pumping weights, i have never seen them so huge!!, even my son and hubby look twice at me now when i beg them to get rid of a spider, i have 4 cats and ALL of them run when they see a spider, i wish we could have a life without both it would be ” less scarey ” as my 4 yr old grandson would say
September 20th, 2006 at 06:05
well i am sitting at my computer at 6 in the morning as my baby has decided to wake early ,and have spotted one DLL HORRAY! IN MY ROOM ,so might have seen the last off them damm things.
September 20th, 2006 at 06:11
but the sad thing is i have got the rest off the rooms to check before i even get down stairs .
September 20th, 2006 at 10:51
After saying what i said yesterday about the horrible things i have to admit last night i didnt see one of them doing any press ups on my walls or dancing on the ceiling.
I think that maybe they are moving on. Also i havent seen a single spider…hopefully it is going to stay that way!!!
September 20th, 2006 at 13:23
The daddy long legs seem to be reducing in quantity, which you might think is good news, but…
I have had to get somebody to remove 3 monster spiders from the house in the last 2 days!
They are enjoying themsleves with the glutton so much that they are now working it off in the gym!!
Still; better thans wasps though!!!
Julie xxx
September 20th, 2006 at 14:20
Well they aren’t calming down yet in Edinburgh.
When I approach my front door in the evenings when its dark, there are always some of them hanging on to it trying to get in. I think it’s because the street light shines onto the door which is white and so is like a beacon for them!!!
Paint your house black to stop them coming in… Really big body parts on them these days..whats making them fatter and hairer?? Maybe the Sottish ones are on the whisky?
PS!! Huge slugs in my garden too - Do they eat slugs? that would explain why they are so fat!
September 20th, 2006 at 17:02
Well another day (3rd one) and I haven’t seen a single DLL! maybe it is because here in Ireland the weather has been really crappy!
We have only had about 5 days nice weather in the last 8 weeks and now the temps have dropped too so hopefully it is Goodbye DLL’s for 2006?!
Does anyone live in a high rise flat, I was wondering if they fly up that high as if they don’t I may sell up and buy a flat on the top floor! lol
September 20th, 2006 at 18:36
ive just been on cub camp in windsor Great Park and oh my God ive never seen so many DLL - im not scared of them but when the toilet block looks like a scene from “arachnophobia” but with wings but with wings you can appreciate why the kids chose to pee behind a tree! there must have been at least 50 of the buggers and then in the kitchen - well - i dont think any DLL got into the stew :)
September 20th, 2006 at 23:03
right ive killed atleast 2 a night every night this week cept today … when i couldnt find any in my house :/ which is strange…. i just cleaned my room and there was about 10 i had to pick up and put in the bin it was horrible… my best method of killing them is using hairspray and deodrant and occasionally a lighter but its not a very good method i need some more :P also about the spider problem … the common garden spider grows to 10-13mm but on my way to college there is 3 with huge webs all around 3cm long which scares me cos any spider bigger than a 5p freaks me out :/ tbh this winter im gonna need alot of bug spray and spider killer….
September 21st, 2006 at 03:51
I hate them, but as they are here i may as well enjoy killing them, i have been using a deodarant spray and lighter to make a flame thrower, that kills em really quick but a week ago i managed to burn some hairs on my arm so i decided it wasnt worth burning myself for the sake of those stupid pointless creatures, so then i took to catching them in a bottle and blowing some kind of herbal smoke into it and observing there reaction, (ok iv’e been getting em stoned!) they go really mad for a while then they chill out and mong, so they react much the same as humans! i also descovered when they mate they will not stop until they want, they got the right idea! doesnt matter how much you shake the bottle they will not seperate! i hate them as flies and i hate them as larvae too, ive only seen a cranefly larvae once (they are called leatherjackets) i found it whilst digging my allotment, think of a big fat grey leathery skined maggot n ya have a leatherjacket, i hate all maggots so i was disgusted to find this in my allotment, from that point onwards i decided i was at war with crane flies, and to win wars you have to know your enemey so i researched about them and now i will share the results of my research, firstly, annoying as they may be, crane flies are completely harmless to humans, they dont bite or sting, they dont even have mouths because they dont eat as adults, there only purpose is to have sex, they wont lay eggs in your house because they like to lay them in moist soil (unless you have moist soil in your house, not sure if they would lay eggs in a plant pot or something, they arnt quite as skanky as other flies, they dont go on poop or rotting flesh so not as germy as houselflies, so really my only reasons to hate themk are when they are in the larval stage, thats when they can be a pest to lawns and allotments, and i hate them getting near my face and i hate them landing on my teddy, this thing about them being the most poisonous things is total nonsense and has been proved wrong, when people refer to daddy long legs (thast what i call crane flies) some people are refering to a type of spider, in fact there are 3 insects that are called ddls, the crane fly, the daddy long legs spider and the harvestman which is a arachnid but not a true spider (its more closely related to a mite) harvestmen are those little round bodies with long spindly legs, NONE of the 3 things called ddls contain deadly poison, and my final titbit of info is if you want to know the difference between a male and female crane fly, look at the end of there abdomen, females have fatter abdomens which end in a point, ive seen someone here ask if it was a stinger, the answer is no, its a ovipositor, (for laying eggs) the makes have smaller blunter abdomes with a sort of nobble on the end.
hope i didnt bore anyone to death!
September 21st, 2006 at 13:47
Everyone do daddy long legs impressions….run around with your chest stuck out and your arms flailing aimlessly by your side…if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em. I’ve decided this morning that they’re actually quite sweet…kind of like the village idiot, but in insect form.
September 21st, 2006 at 15:15
Marie says she didn’t have crane flies in Canada. I’m in Canada and we have always had a few each year. But this year we are inundated, at least where I live in Kitchener, Ontario. When I walk in my grass there are thousands of them that get stirred up. They always seem to come into the house hidden in my dog’s fur. Thank goodness we have screens on our windows otherwise there would be hundreds in the house. Hopefully they will die soon. But I worry about what will happen to the lawn next year.
September 21st, 2006 at 16:32
I’ve just noticed the temps in the UK, 25c+, I’m not suprised you still have DLL’s there, it is only 12c here in the west of Ireland so I think all our DLL’s may have flown off to you lot! lol
I keep complaining about the cold weather here, but at least our DLL;s seem to have gone.
So chances are that yours will be gone in the next couple of weeks.
Brrr, off to put the central heating on!
September 21st, 2006 at 18:18
i hate them
September 21st, 2006 at 21:32
I wish more people were scared of them, it would make me feel better! My flatmates aren’t scared of them so they leave them to roam the hose freely while i’m on edge having a nervous breakdown. Everytime one of them opens the door for a fag they swarm in, great i’m paying in daddy long legs for her bad habit!
please will the just cease to exist then we we can move onto the spider problem
From Peterborough, in enfield at the moment
September 22nd, 2006 at 00:59
Striking from underground the Cranes have invaded our homes in a desperate bid to drive humanity to insanity.But never fear the Jedi are here:
Crane Wars
The Cranes Strike Back
Return of the Cranes
The Phantom Crane
The Crane Wars
Revenge of the Crane
As you’ve guessed we’re big Star wars fans in our home but we arn’t fans of the Crane Beasties. These creatures would install fear in even a Sith Lord.
Me and the kids have had great fun with our toy light sabres. At first the kids had serious worries when I jumped up and started waving one of these swords (with light and sound effects) around and swatting the Crane Beasties. Now they think it’s fun and so the Crane Wars have begun. The wife ain’t talking to me at the moment (peace at last) as a few of her ornaments became collateral casualties in this epic struggle…but the kids thing I’m the best..! We’ve named the mower the Millanium Falcon and hit the garden every day. I’ve never known the kids to want to help with mowing so much. No more Crane Beasties on our lawn…
So if you don’t care what the neighbours think of you when your diving around in your house brandishing a glowing humming Light Sabre then have fun and “Death to the Cranes”
September 22nd, 2006 at 02:11
It’s late, and I can’t sleep. Mainly due to the constant buzzing of DLLs. The damn things have infested every room in the house, looking at the lampshade above me I can see it’s full of the dead or dieing from the last few nights.
Tommorow I’m going hunting with the hoover.
I remember when I was a kid you’d always get a day during the summer when the air was full of flying ants. This is kind of like that, only these suckers are big, noisey and they’ve been here for weeks.
Not said this in a long time, but roll on winter.
September 22nd, 2006 at 09:45
One flew at my face last night as I was sat chatting in the kitchen! I nearly had a heart attack!!
Everyone was laughing at my reaction.
Yeah hilarious!! ……..Call me strange but I hate things flying at me!!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:02
why have i become addicted to reading this site?
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:52
Infested in Tamworth too!
Just walking down my Garden and I disturbed literally hundreds of them in the grass, seemed to be small/young ones though.
Every morning, since late August, when I open the curtains in the front room there are at least 10 hanging onto the window at eye level, staring in at me.
The spiders are not only getting bigger by eating them, they’re getting braver too. I swear the one down the end of the garden has doubled in size in just under a week. Everytime I wreck its’ web within ten minutes it’s back - building a bigger one (to try and catch me I think).
Hadn’t really noticed lack of Wasps this year until now. They do have a purpose then!
September 22nd, 2006 at 13:52
Does anyone out there know if spiders would dare to actually walk onto your face in the night?? I’m worried that a spider might actually sit on me while I sleep. Given the size of them I think this is a real worry.
I bought some devices for the house that are supposed to keep insects and rodents out by sending out a high frequency sound that only affects them……dont buy one they are useless or the spiders in my hous wear earplugs!!!!
September 22nd, 2006 at 16:00
I live opposite the playing fields so at the mo there are more than the cats can eat and the spiders webs are clogged with them - saw a spider cutting one out yesterday - even they are fed up with them.
We need a TV special explaining about them. Questions I would like answered are:
Why are they called ‘Daddy’?
Why do they hang ‘dead fashion’ on one leg from the ceiling when they rest?
Is it possible that the can sting?
What do the eggs look like?
Why do leatherjackets seem to have no mouth yet manage to eat the lawn?
Why do they fly at people - can they not see?
Does a DLL hatch straight from a leatherjacket or is there an inbetween stage?
So many questions….
September 22nd, 2006 at 17:05
The DDL invasion is here in Milton Keynes too!!! I hate them they fly at me when im in the shower! I have found a way of killing/ preventing them a bit. I have a pony and the fly spray i use on him has citronella stuff and a whole host of other bug busting stuff.I sprayed it on him and a DDL landed on him and it died instantly so i sprayed the window frames of my bedroom and there have been less DDLs. I hope this helps!!!!
September 22nd, 2006 at 17:55
In answer to M (170) about “dare spiders walk on our face during the night”, it is said that in a lifetime a person can eat 10 spiders whilst they are asleep!! there, that has taken your mind of DLL’s for a moment hasn’t it?! LOL
September 22nd, 2006 at 18:09
OH NO!!!
September 22nd, 2006 at 20:02
I’m 13 and have a phobia DLL. My family really don’t sympethise and as I’m a christian I don’t believe in killing God’s creatures. I also really hate spiders and no one will come and rescue me. They all leave the windows and doors open and I am haunted every night. I keep falling asleep at school because I get so little sleep when they come into my room. Can someone please help me?
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:16
Dear H - why not ask your mum and dad to get you a mosquito net for your bed. They are very cheap and easy to put up. You won’t have to kill any DDLs but they won’t be able to get near you when you’re in bed, so at least you can get a good night’s sleep. Good luck.
September 23rd, 2006 at 13:43
H - I know exactly how you feel, because I am also terrified of them but my family (more specifically my Dad and brother) enjoyed taunting me about it.
I would suggest that you keep your bedroom window closed, at least from just before dusk until the next morning, and your door closed.
To stop the spiders, would your parents allow you to stick a draft excluder around your door? This would reduce the gaps and make it harder for them to get in.
I’m 30 now, and still terrified of DLLs. I’ve learnt to control my fear a little more over recent years, but I still can’t make myself go near enough to be able to remove it (whether by killing or any other means)
Has anyone successfully overcome a phobia of them, and if so, how?
September 23rd, 2006 at 16:01
They say that to overcome a phobia you need to confront your fear…HELLO, can you imagine having a DLL sat on your hand so you can get over your phobia? I think not!!
Instead I will just have to reply on my lovely future hubby to grab ‘em and chuck out t’window! :-)
I had thought they had all vanished here in Ireland, but Alas, my dreams have just been shattered as I have just spotted a few of them in the….sob!
September 24th, 2006 at 10:00
South Wales here, and love my house being open, plus the youngest always keeps back door open anyway.
Went to lock house up last night and over 20 in dining room, and several throughout rest of house. Almost end of September and still not slowing down. Even the cat is bored now.
September 25th, 2006 at 11:00
These things or rather the lavae (leatherjacket) managed to eat my entire lawn last year, since many pesticides are now banned there is only one way to get rid of them, nematodes are tiny organisms that basically kill off the leather jacket and should be applied to your lawn roughly 2 weeks after you notice the crane flies so you need to act now.
September 25th, 2006 at 20:30
Can’t believe I’ve just spent the last 20 mins reading this site or that so many people are posting!
Here in Essex we are still seeing huge amounts of the dastardly DLLs - I have about 4 of the things flying round my living room at the moment. They are definitely much bigger than normal. I can’t seem to find out why they hang from one leg when resting but have found out why their flying is erratic - their eyes are on top so they can only see upwards.
As for spiders, our garden spiders are massive but were like that before the DLLs hatched.
September 25th, 2006 at 21:45
so they fly around everywhere, eat alot, shag alot - sounds like my boss :)
September 27th, 2006 at 01:41
WANTED: Lots of kitchen roll or tissues
PURPOSE: for squashing daddy long legs between my fingers and feeling a sense of delight as I deposit them in the rubbish bin!!
Forgive my sins people but these pesky, bumbling little (or in some cases actually quite big!) creatures are causing me severe trauma so much so that I’m thinking of spending next September in Iceland (the country not the freezer centre that us mums go to!!) as I’m sure they don’t have them there!!!
I’ve tried the gentile, ladylike approach of politely asking my hubby to remove them from our house but having put about a million of them out, he’s now on strike!!! Having spent a night out of the marital bed because there was one whirring around my bedroom, watching me in a demonic fashion from the coving just waiting to twirl and whirl onto my face whilst I was sleeping, I decided that there was nothing for it - the beasts of Bristol had to go!!!
So there we have it, one traumatised 30 something mother driven to squashing creatures between bits of kitchen towel or tissues in order to return some sort of mental stability. Phew - that’s better - I confessed my sins - arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh there’s one on my landing, quick, get the protective gear - I’m after it …. !!!!
September 27th, 2006 at 15:34
My Mum told me a story the other day how she swallowed a DLL by accident. (She calls them ”Genie Long legs”)… anyway she was running at top speed and just swallowed a DLL by accident. Apparently it tasted of cinamon!!
Nice :o)
September 27th, 2006 at 20:16
i cant believe people converse on the topic of daddy long legs! all i wanted to know was if they actually fly or does it look like they do because they have such long legs. get a life people(no point in replying to this message because i wont return to read it).
September 28th, 2006 at 09:53
Does anyone know why there has been a decrease in wasps…thus leading to this hellish plague of daddy long legs…bad in Brighton!!!! nice to know others care too!
September 28th, 2006 at 14:25
Work this out… how come my arachnophobic wife doesn’t show the slightest fear of DLLs…? Big hairy spider (gorged on DLLs no doubt) in the bath and it’s panic stations, but no such trepidation when the DLLs invade…. hmmm?
Our garden is alive with ‘em! They stick to the wall shortly after emerging from the ground; last night I reckon there about 15 to 20 per square foot. I left the house this morning and was immediately smacked around the head by 20 or so that had been attracted to the hall light. Maybe I should get some mozzie nets and shroud the house for the next two weeks…
September 29th, 2006 at 22:07
Please, please, please someone invent a quick and convenient DLL killer… I love my wife to bits, but this has to end! From the minute I walk through the door I have regular spine tingerling screaming sessions followed by mudane DLL termination duties where a complete total killing spree can last up to 45 minutes.. I have noticed that a lot of people have mentioned that its not hard to kill these things, but I am convinced they have a built in defence mechanism for shoes and trainers, you can tred, stamp and jump on these blighters and they still carry on there random flight path!! It’s like they have been to rubber sole school “ok this one coming down is a nikey, to the left, thats it” or “center! center! new shape reebok coming down… nice one! wait for him to lift and off I go!” - Seriously… for the love of god! I must have broken two cups, 4 glasses and scared the living sh#t out of the cat (lazy arse) countless times… C’mon inventors… I wanna see your new invention on the Dragons Den.. I’d buy it!
October 1st, 2006 at 22:59
Here in Essex, we seem to still have a big problem with DLL’s so much so that my Daughter’s Teacher has assigned homework to find out the purpose of DLL’s. Well, has anyone got an idea why DLL are on this earth apart from annoying the hellout of us?
Hope someone has the answer.
October 2nd, 2006 at 09:25
Their uses are as follows:
1. Cleaning the dust from inside the lampshades as they flutter within.
2. Food for cats, spiders and wasps.
3. Making more DLL’s.
Sorry - that is the best I can do!
Ian
October 2nd, 2006 at 21:00
Thanks Ian,
That’s more information than I had two minutes ago.
I did think that my house was not looking so dusty at the moment, now I know why. “Dusting Daddy Long Legs” - a great use!
Mandy
October 4th, 2006 at 21:49
has any body watched gervais ANIMAL dvd its great a great passage about the daddy long legs
and why god mad them the way they are
its their own fault.
October 4th, 2006 at 21:55
bit of subject but whats with green flies they always end up in your mouth.
walk down the road a dll hits you in your face and as soon as you open your mouth BANG a suicidal green flie goes dive bombing down your throat. they double team you. pure evil creatures both of them sent by the devil to make mans life hell.
and spiders scare me and the missus so i have to catch them (takes about an hour) jumping back and shouting as it moves and free it (she wont let me kill as they are a living creature.
I heard some where that to kill them and keep them out of your home to purchase a outdoor candle (them big tourch ones) and light it and leave for the night the stupid B*s***ds fly straight to it (not tested just what i heard)
October 4th, 2006 at 22:33
As our kids run across the lawn, something like a kajillion of these DLL’s rise up. From the site I see that the cold weather will help, but what about the larve they are depositing? Any ideas on how to kill them so they don’t return? Any ideas how to get rid of them now? harmless or not, they will scare the daylight out of our 150 guests next weekend.
October 11th, 2006 at 15:35
looks like the site is getting a bit boring now and no one is posting anything… to be fair i havent seen any of them i thinkn that they are gone now!
October 12th, 2006 at 15:25
….This is Queen DLL.. our numbers are much less now hence the reason this site is now quiet!! We have however, made sure that our army will be ready to rise again and swoop upon your lawns and homes. We will return next year to scare you some more and keep you from sleep!! We will RETURN!!! Queen D xxx
November 27th, 2006 at 22:51
can daddy long legs pierce our skin and give us a reaction
December 2nd, 2006 at 15:26
can a daddy long legs kill me?
February 23rd, 2007 at 14:54
This was a very interesting read and the answer that i was looking for never really got answered; what about the remains of my poor lawn? Will it ever recover or will i just have to concrete the lot and paint it green….love to see the buggers eat their way through that. Nemetodes sound disgusting and in february is it too late? Good luck to all who contributed, in attempting to mow your grass this year….cos you’re not going to have any!!!
April 3rd, 2007 at 00:49
i am doing a project in middle school about crane flys and i’ve noticed that not many people have web pages about them due to the fact that nobody HARDLY knows what they are,i think there should be more articles about crane flys.please say something on this page if you agree with me.
April 3rd, 2007 at 00:53
i agree with Queen DLL, if we do not keep looking at this page and not worship the crane flys they are sure to attack our lawns,forgive my sins Queen DLL, I LOVE YOU! Please respond Queen DLL to Chris.
April 3rd, 2007 at 00:58
i cannot release my name due to the fact that the russians are lis