Common Crane Flies

Tipula

Crane flies of the genus Tipula are the long-legged, slow-flying insects that drift over lawns and fields in late summer, often called daddy-long-legs in Britain. They are true flies, with one pair of wings and a pair of tiny balancing knobs, and they cannot bite or sting. Their grey-brown larvae, called leatherjackets, live in the soil, eat grass roots and are dug out and eaten by rooks and starlings.

Also known as Daddy-long-legs (UK and Ireland), Leatherjacket (the larva), European crane fly (Tipula paludosa)

Crane fly abilities

6 → 5 legs after a lucky escapeStill debated
Crane fly legs come away very easily. A crane fly caught by one leg can leave it behind and escape.
- Extension entomologists describe crane fly legs as breaking off easily, and scientists call them “deciduous”, like leaves that fall.
- Dropping a body part to escape is called autotomy. True autotomy happens at a built-in breaking point, and has been described in over 200 kinds of invertebrates.
- Snow flies, wingless relatives of crane flies, drop a leg when it starts to freeze, which stops the ice spreading into the body.
- Nobody has measured how often garden crane flies escape this way, or exactly how controlled the break is, so we mark this one as still debated.
Sources [1, 2, 3, 12]
2 halteres (balancing knobs)
Instead of a second pair of wings, a crane fly has two tiny drumstick-shaped halteres that sense turning and help it stay steady.
- Halteres are reduced back wings. In flight they beat along with the wings and sense how the body is rotating, a bit like a built-in gyroscope.
- Every fly with wings needs its halteres to control flight.
- Crane flies have large halteres that wobble even when they are standing. In a 2026 study, crane flies whose halteres had been removed were worse at keeping their balance when nudged.
Sources [4, 5, 6]
≈70 wingbeats a second
Crane flies have the slowest wingbeats measured in a big study of flies, so they wobble along rather than dart.
- Scientists filmed 46 kinds of fly with high-speed cameras. Crane flies beat their wings about 70 times a second, about a third of the typical fly’s 236.
- Mosquitoes and midges were the opposite extreme, at about 714 beats a second. That fast whine is a sound crane flies do not make.
- Their long, narrow wings need little power, but give a slow, weak, wavering flight that is easy to spot at dusk.
Wingbeats per second
Crane flies≈70
Typical fly≈236
Mosquitoes and midges≈714
Averages from a 46-species study of fly flight.
Sources [4, 8]
200–300 eggs per female (reported)
Within a day of emerging, a female pushes her eggs into the grass and soil surface with the pointed tip of her abdomen.
- European crane flies mate and lay eggs in grass within 24 hours of coming out of the ground.
- Each female can reportedly lay about 200–300 tiny black eggs, each about 1 mm long.
- The eggs hatch a few weeks later. In a dry autumn many eggs dry out and fail, so lots of adult crane flies does not always mean lots of leatherjackets next year.
Sources [10, 11, 13]
30 mm longest leatherjackets
A crane fly spends most of its life as a leatherjacket: a legless, grey-brown larva with tough skin that lives in the soil and eats roots.
- Leatherjackets grow up to about 30 mm long. They have no legs and no obvious head.
- By day they stay just under the surface. On damp, mild nights they come up to nibble the stems and leaves of plants.
- Lots of leatherjackets can leave yellow-brown dead patches in a lawn. Crows, magpies, rooks and starlings dig them out, leaving small round beak holes in the turf.
Sources [11, 13]
Aug–Oct when adults emerge
In late summer the pupa wriggles up to the surface of the lawn, and the adult crane fly climbs out of its pupal skin.
- European crane flies emerge from lawns, pastures and other grassy places from late August into October.
- The pupa does the hard work: it wriggles up through the soil before the adult breaks out.
- The adult lives only a few days to about two weeks, just long enough to mate and lay eggs.
A European crane fly’s year ≈1 year (one generation)
Adult: a few days to about 2 weeks
Almost all of its life is spent as an egg, a leatherjacket and a pupa in the soil.
Sources [2, 9, 11, 13]
2 flying seasons (marsh crane fly)Still debated
Marsh crane flies form small swarms in the evening, flying low over meadows and fields.
- The marsh crane fly has two generations a year: one flies from April to June, the other from August to October.
- Its evening swarms fly close to the ground. Scientists think they help males and females find each other, but this is not well studied.
- In a warm laboratory, marsh crane flies can fit in five to six generations a year.
Sources [14, 15]

Tap a pin on the model or a part below.

6 very long, very fragile legs
- Six stilt-like legs, much longer than the body. They break off very easily.
- Losing a leg can be a way out: a crane fly grabbed by one leg can leave it behind and fly off.
- Because the legs come away so easily, never pick a crane fly up by its legs. Just watch it, or let it walk onto a sheet of paper and carry it outside.
Sources [1, 2, 3]
2 tiny balancers instead of back wings
- Just behind the wings sit two little knobbed stalks called halteres. They are what is left of a second pair of wings.
- Halteres are sense organs. They tell the fly how its body is turning, and every fly needs them to steer in the air.
- Crane flies have unusually large halteres, and they wobble them even while standing still to help keep their balance.
Sources [4, 5, 6]
≈70 wingbeats a second
- One pair of long, narrow, clear wings. At rest they are often held out at an angle of about 45° from the body.
- Each wing of a European crane fly is about 13–23 mm long.
- Crane flies flap slowly for flies, about 70 times a second. Most flies manage over 200 and mosquitoes about 700, which is why crane flies drift and wobble rather than zip.
Sources [4, 7, 8]
0 biting mouthparts
- The head ends in a short snout (the rostrum) with soft mouthparts at the tip. There is no needle-like piercing tube like a mosquito’s.
- Crane flies cannot bite people or pets.
- Most adult crane flies eat little or nothing. Some species are known to sip nectar or water.
Sources [2, 4, 9]
14 antenna segments (European crane fly)
- Two thin antennae stick out from the front of the head.
- In the European crane fly both males and females have 14 segments in each antenna.
Sources [10]
V shaped groove on the back
- The thorax is the middle part of the body, where the legs, wings and halteres are attached.
- A V-shaped groove across the top of the thorax is one of the best ways to tell a crane fly from other long-legged flies.
- The wing veins have no scales, unlike a mosquito’s.
Sources [4, 9]
≈25 mm body length, without the legs
- The long abdomen makes up most of the body. The whole body of a European crane fly is about 25 mm long, not counting the legs.
- Females have a thick abdomen ending in a sharp-looking point. It is a harmless egg-laying tip, not a sting.
- Males have a blunt, club-ended abdomen, so you can tell the sexes apart at a glance.
Sources [4, 9, 11]
200–300 eggs per female (reported)
- A female crane fly usually comes out of her pupa already carrying ripe eggs.
- A European crane fly female can reportedly lay about 200–300 eggs. They are shiny black and about 1 mm long.
- She mates and starts pushing her eggs into the grass and soil within a day of emerging.
Sources [2, 10, 11]

Real crane flies

Photos from Wikimedia Commons. Some of them can change the 3D model.

FemaleLong, thick abdomen ending in a pointed, harmless egg-laying tip. In the European crane fly the female’s wings are shorter than her abdomen.Lays her eggs into grass within a day of emergingFemale European crane fly (Tipula paludosa), Germany. Photo: Holger Gröschl, CC BY-SA 2.0 de
Marsh crane fly (Tipula oleracea)Very like the European crane fly, with wings 18–28 mm long. In females the wings are as long as the abdomen.Flies in spring and again in late summer; invasive in North AmericaMarsh crane fly (Tipula oleracea), Warwickshire, England. Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 3.0
MaleSlimmer abdomen with a blunt, club-shaped end. European crane fly males have shorter bodies and relatively large wings.Lives only a few days as an adultMale marsh crane fly, Ontario, Canada. Photo: ImagePerson, CC BY 4.0
Head and snout of a marsh crane fly, OxfordshirePhoto: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
European crane fly at restPhoto: Rolf Dietrich Brecher, CC BY-SA 2.0
Wing veins of a European crane flyPhoto: jacilluch, CC BY-SA 2.0
Marsh crane fly (Tipula oleracea)Very like the European crane fly, with wings 18–28 mm long. In females the wings are as long as the abdomen.Flies in spring and again in late summer; invasive in North AmericaFemale marsh crane fly at a light, Denmark. Photo: Donald Hobern, CC BY 2.0
Leatherjacket (larva)Legless, greyish-brown tube up to about 30 mm long, with tough skin and no obvious head.Eats grass roots underground; food for rooks and starlingsA Tipula larva (a water-living species, not a lawn leatherjacket). Photo: Takimata, CC BY-SA 3.0

Crane fly by the numbers

Measured by scientists and extension entomologists, with comparisons you can picture.

Body length: ≈25 mm; European crane fly, not counting the legs⁠[11, 9]
Wing length: 13–23 mm; European crane fly; marsh crane fly 18–28 mm⁠[7]
Wingbeats: ≈70 a second; crane flies as a group; mosquitoes and midges ≈714; Crane fly70 beats/sMosquito714 beats/s; About 10 times slower than a mosquito⁠[8]
Eggs: 200–300; per European crane fly female (reported)⁠[10]
Egg-laying starts: within 24 h; of the female emerging⁠[11]
Adult life: days to 2 weeks; about 10–15 days at most⁠[9, 2]
Time as a larva: ≈10–11 months; European crane fly: hatches in autumn, pupates the next August⁠[11, 13]
Leatherjacket length: up to 30 mm; longer than the adult’s body⁠[13, 11]
Leatherjacket crowd: ≈1,200 per m²; 110 per square foot in a 1966 outbreak in British Columbia⁠[11]
Crane fly species: 15,768; worldwide in four families; over 2,000 in the genus Tipula⁠[17, 10]

Crane fly myths and facts

Crane flies collect more myths than almost any garden insect. Here is what the evidence says.

0 of 8 answered

“Daddy-long-legs are the most venomous animals in the world, but their fangs are too small to bite you.”
“Crane flies eat mosquitoes, so they are “mosquito hawks”.”
“Crane flies are giant mosquitoes that bite.”
“A crane fly can drop a leg and still fly away.”
“Crane flies have four wings, like a dragonfly.”
“Adult crane flies have no mouth.”
““Daddy-long-legs” is the name of one animal.”
“Crane flies are useless pests.”

Crane fly records

Not the fastest or the fiercest, but crane flies hold some surprising titles.

Slowest wingbeats
≈70 per second
Crane flies
In a study of 46 fly species, crane flies had the slowest wingbeats, about 30% of a typical fly’s. Mosquitoes and midges were fastest, at about 714 a second.⁠[8]
Long, skinny wings
aspect ratio ≈5.2
Crane flies and mosquitoes
These two old fly groups have the longest, narrowest wings for their width, compared with about 3.9 for flies overall.⁠[8]
A crowded lawn
≈1,200 per m²
European crane fly larvae
In a 1966 outbreak in British Columbia, Canada, there were about 110 leatherjackets per square foot of pasture, about 4.5 million per acre.⁠[11]
Coldest walkers
−7 °C
Snow flies (crane-fly relatives)
These wingless crane flies keep walking on snow until their bodies cool to about −7 °C.⁠[12]
Ancient family
≈245 million years
Crane flies
Crane flies first appear in rocks from the Middle Triassic, making them one of the oldest known groups of flies.⁠[2]
A giant family tree
15,768 species
Crane flies worldwide
Scientists recognise 15,768 species of crane fly, including 4,378 in the family Tipulidae. The genus Tipula alone has over 2,000.⁠[17, 10]

A crane fly’s life

A European crane fly lives for about a year, and almost all of it is spent underground.

Late August–October
Out of the lawn
The pupa wriggles up to the surface and the adult climbs out of its pupal skin.⁠[11, 13]
Day 1
Eggs in the grass
The female mates and lays her eggs in grass within 24 hours, reportedly about 200–300 of them.⁠[11, 10]
Days to 2 weeks
Adult life ends
Adults live only a few days to about two weeks.⁠[9, 2]
A few weeks later
Hatching
Tiny larvae hatch and start eating roots. Dry soil now can kill many eggs and young larvae.⁠[13, 11]
Winter
Leatherjacket
The larvae grow a tough skin and stay underground through the cold months.⁠[11, 10]
March–mid-May
Big feed
As the soil warms they feed hardest, and on damp, mild nights they come to the surface to eat. This is when lawn patches appear.⁠[11]
June–August
Rest and pupa
Feeding stops. The larva rests just below the surface, then turns into a pupa, ready to emerge.⁠[11]

Crane fly vs mosquito vs harvestman vs cellar spider

Three of these get called daddy-long-legs, and one gets mistaken for a giant crane fly. Here is how to tell them apart.

Crane fly vs mosquito vs harvestman vs cellar spider
	Crane fly	Mosquito	Harvestman	Cellar spider
What is it?⁠[9, 18]	Insect (true fly)	Insect (true fly)	Arachnid, not a spider	Spider
Legs⁠[18]	6	6	8	8
Wings⁠[9, 5]	2, plus 2 halteres	2, plus 2 halteres	None	None
Bites people?⁠[9, 22, 18]	No	Yes, some species	No	No harmful bites known
Venom⁠[18, 9]	None	None	No venom glands	Venom for prey; no known harm to people
Wingbeats a second⁠[8]	≈70	≈714 (with midges)	–	–
Called daddy-long-legs in⁠[13, 18]	Britain and Ireland	–	North America	Often, as “daddy-long-legs spider”

The quickest check: a crane fly has wings and a V-shaped groove on its back, and it cannot bite.

Are crane flies endangered?

Garden crane flies are very common, but crane flies matter a lot to the animals that eat them.

IUCN Red List

Not Evaluated (NE)

Trend unknown

Neither the genus Tipula nor the marsh crane fly has an IUCN assessment. The European and marsh crane flies are common in Europe and have become invasive pests of turf in North America.⁠[23, 16, 24]

Not assessed by the IUCN Red List

Threats

Dry late summers
Eggs and young larvae dry out easily, so a dry autumn can wipe out many of them.⁠[13, 11]
Drying peat bogs56–81%
In British upland bogs, falling water tables under climate change could cut crane fly numbers by 56–81% by 2051–2080, and the birds that feed on them by 15–51%.⁠[21]
Shifting seasons
Warm Mays bring crane flies out earlier. Birds such as golden plovers time their breeding to this food, so climate change can put them out of step.⁠[20]
Lawn insecticides
Lawns and sports turf are often treated with insecticides to kill leatherjackets, especially where the European crane fly is an invasive pest.⁠[16]

What’s helping

Share with the birds
Crows, magpies, rooks and starlings dig leatherjackets out of lawns. A few patches can mean a lot of bird food.⁠[13]
Nematodes, not sprays
Gardeners with a real problem can use tiny nematode worms (Steinernema feltiae) that infect leatherjackets, applied in September to early October in moist soil above 12 °C.⁠[13]
Keep bogs wet
Crane fly numbers in blanket bogs depend on the water table, so keeping peat wet supports the insects and the birds that eat them.⁠[21]
Bat food
In Ireland, crane flies made up 57% of the fly prey found in the diet of brown long-eared bats.⁠[7]

Crane fly quiz

Twelve questions. Every answer is somewhere on this page.

Question 1 of 12Score 0

How many wings does a crane fly have?

Common Crane Flies field notes

Diet, food web, safety and badges from the Snappit field guide.

Diet & Feeding

Adult crane flies usually don't eat, but their larvae are busy munching on roots and decaying plants!

Primary Foods

decaying plant matter
grass roots
leaf litter
moss
fungi
Foraging Method: Foraging

Age differences: Larvae eat roots and decaying plants; adults typically do not feed or only consume nectar/water.

Ecological connections

European StarlingEaten by
Birds like starlings often prey on adult crane flies.
Common FrogEaten by
Frogs readily consume the slow-moving adult crane flies.
Perennial RyegrassDepends on
Larvae feed on roots, sometimes causing lawn damage.

Safety

Danger 1/5 · Very low

Crane Flies are safe to watch, but don't try to catch them!

Traits

Collections

Insects

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Tipulidae
Genus: Tipula

Also known as

Daddy-long-legs (UK and Ireland) · Leatherjacket (the larva) · European crane fly (Tipula paludosa) · Marsh crane fly (Tipula oleracea) · Cranefly

Sources for these crane fly facts

24 studies and references · checked Oct 16, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How to identify Common Crane Flies?

Look for six legs, antennae, three body sections and the shape of the wings. Beetles have hardened front wings; flies have just one working pair. Tiny insects may need a close view before their group is clear. Insect Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

What is Common Crane Flies's wingspan?

40-60 mm

How big is Common Crane Flies?

10-25 mm

How long does Common Crane Flies live?

10-15 days

How fast can Common Crane Flies fly?

3-8 km/h

What does Common Crane Flies eat?

Adult crane flies usually don't eat, but their larvae are busy munching on roots and decaying plants!

Where is Common Crane Flies usually found?

Grasslands

How does Common Crane Flies hunt?

Foraging

Do crane flies bite or sting?

No. Crane flies have no piercing mouthparts and no sting. The pointed tip on a female’s abdomen is only for laying eggs.

Are crane flies poisonous or venomous?

No. Crane flies have no venom. The story that “daddy-long-legs are the most venomous animal but cannot bite” is a myth, and it mixes up crane flies with harvestmen and cellar spiders.

Do crane flies eat mosquitoes?

No. Adult crane flies eat little or nothing, and some sip nectar or water. Only the water-living larvae of some crane fly species are known to eat mosquito larvae.

Why are there so many crane flies in September?

European crane flies come out of lawns and fields together from late August to October, mate and lay eggs within a day, then die within days to about two weeks.

How long do crane flies live?

As adults, only a few days to about two weeks. Including the egg, larva and pupa stages, a European crane fly lives about a year.

Why do crane fly legs fall off so easily?

Their legs are built to break off easily, which can help a crane fly escape when something grabs it. Please do not pick them up by the legs.

What are leatherjackets and are they bad for lawns?

Leatherjackets are crane fly larvae. Large numbers can leave yellow-brown patches in lawns, but they are also food for rooks and starlings. Where control is needed, the RHS describes a biological control: tiny nematode worms that infect the larvae.

What is the difference between a crane fly and a daddy-long-legs spider?

A crane fly is an insect with 6 legs and 2 wings. A daddy-long-legs (cellar) spider has 8 legs and no wings, and a harvestman is an 8-legged arachnid that is not a spider at all.

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