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.
Comments
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!!
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.
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.
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!!!
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…
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….
LOads in Nottingham too
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?
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?
barbequed**
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..
Great Site and some great questions…but no answers???
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…
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!
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 :-)
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!!!
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
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!
Woke up @ 4:30 this morning with something clawing up my leg, yep 2 big f**k off dll
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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?
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?
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?
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!
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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?
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
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!
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.
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….!
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???
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!!
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!
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.
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??????
Not DDL’s, DLL’s I meant!!! lol
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.
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
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
Stop messing about on the PC daddy
Mum
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.
I agree with Diane (139), that’s a great call!
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.
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
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.
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…
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