Is there any point to crane flies? Or are they just there to annoy me by buzzing round my room at night?

Answer 1

How can I protect myself from spiders?

Patrick Barkham
Tuesday September 12, 2006
The Guardian


Our houses are crawling with them, our gardens are festooned with their webs and we have got the creeps. A series of mild winters, a wet spring and a fine summer means that arachnids are with us in unusually great numbers. "They've made hay while the sun shone," confirms Stuart Hine, manager of insect (and arachnid) information at the Natural History Museum.
Across the country, numbers are up. Garden spiders have flourished this year, while sightings of the spectacular wasp spider - which arrived from Europe in the 1950s - are double that of 12 months ago.

In some ways, it is all perfectly normal. September is mating season. Indoors, the common house spiders you see scuttling about are mate-hunting males, unlikely to hang around for long. Outside, those crouching fatly in the centre of enormous webs are female garden spiders. Most will die off during the winter before their new broods hatch next spring.
Climate change is making a difference, though. Alongside the wasp spider, another species you may see more of is the daddy longlegs spider which has expanded its range as the seasons have warmed up. While this species enjoys itself in the warmth indoors, it could actually be good news for arachnophobes: one of its favourite meals is spiders.

When you spot a scary-looking "new" spider in the home, it is, according to Hine, "99.99% likely" to be one of the 650 species of harmless British spider. There has never been a spider fatality in Britain, but some 12 people have died from wasp stings this year alone.

The best way to repel spiders is to live in a double-glazed and centrally heated home, which is too dry for their liking. Some sprays promise to deter spiders around household openings, although Hine is sceptical about their efficacy.

Perhaps we should learn to appreciate spiders' pest-control powers. "It's not in a spider's interest to come in and haunt you or bite you," reasons Hine. "Given the number of other insects that invade your home - particularly flies carrying all sorts of diseases - it's very useful to have spiders around."

Answer 2

In North America nearly 1,500 crane fly species are known and most larvae live in water or moist soil, and typically feed on decaying plant material. One neat thing about crane flies is that, despite their similarity to mosquitoes, they don't bite. So in answer, yes they help in the breakdown of plant matter to soil. As are most things that seem inconsequential they have a purpose.

Answer 3

Try shutting the windows. Crane flies have a point, but it's clearly not to be in your room at night. Try catching them in a glass and letting them out if you can.

Answer 4

I actually have a similar difficulty the place I stay shop all foodstuff closed in view that's what they consume whilst they are interior the abode. shop the doorways and abode windows closed in case of alternative bugs coming in. And final yet no longer least, the fly swatter. inspite of the incontrovertible fact that it would not artwork a million/2 the time. they generally die in 2-3 days. desire it helped.

Answer 5

I dnt think there is any use but they are driving me mad at the moment. I think this time of year must be the season because there are tons around my house right now.

Answer 6

Not really they just lay their larvae in the ground which turn into leather jackets, that eat roots of your garden plants.

Answer 7

No doubt they have a place in the great scheme of things, just like you do.

Answer 8

I think they eat mosquitos...would you rather have those buzzing around biting you?

Answer 9

EVRY LIVING THING HAS A PURPOSE IN LIFE

Answer 10

we feed them to our tarantula,so i guess they have a point!!l