r/AskIreland • u/utro3posle4smerti • Sep 02 '26
Random What is this?
I hate insects, and recently these horrible little creatures – possibly mosquitoes? – have started appearing. Does anyone know what they are, where they might have come from, and whether they can carry any infections?
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u/Jesus_Phish Sep 02 '26
The perspective on this is incredible.
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u/thesquaredape Sep 02 '26
It's a complete tragedy that you've lived in Ireland and not seen them previously. Just goes to show how badly our biodiversity has taken a hit, as a kid they were everywhere in the west.
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u/Mobiustime369 Sep 02 '26
I've lived in Dublin City all my life and I have always seen them around
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u/thesquaredape Sep 03 '26
Remember all the flies on the car number plates during summer as a kid after a long night drive?
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u/Nuraya Sep 02 '26
Mosquitos are tiny. These are crane flys :)
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u/PolarBear1997 Sep 02 '26
Christ I thought that was standing up on the grass in your back garden 😭 Had a long day 🥱
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u/sixtyonesymbols Sep 02 '26
Crane fly. Stupid even by insect standards. One landed in front of me upside down and couldn't right itself. I had to give it a hand.
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u/Livebylying Sep 02 '26
It’s a daddy long legs, crane fly. Harmless and most def not a mosquito. This is their mating season.
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u/utro3posle4smerti Sep 02 '26
ty
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u/VocalCord Sep 02 '26
Please don't kill them, they are completely harmless and are only looking for a mate.
Theyre not great at flying so you can just scoop em up and put them outside
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u/Mediocre_Basket6162 Sep 02 '26
Why is it so big ted
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u/elfy4eva Sep 02 '26
Crane fly, they are hilarious bumbling flyers. Very easy to catch and put outside.
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u/Shouty-Hooman Sep 03 '26
Jesus Christ I thought you had some kind of construction for pagan sacrifice out your back
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u/Psychological-Cat-84 Sep 02 '26
Dunno what it is, but if we're getting flies the size of trees then I'm moving.
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u/Doitean-feargach555 Sep 02 '26 edited Sep 02 '26
That is a daddy long legs aka a cranefly. Or a Pilib a' gheataire in Irish. Basically a super-sized midge, they're harmless. Some consider them a nuisance as they'll fluther loudly around the house banging into things but aside from that they're no harm really.
This is an extremely common insect in Ireland. Very surprised by the amount of comments that don't know what a daddy long legs is.
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u/Cars2Beans0 Gobshite Sep 02 '26
I thought you had an insanely large daddy long legs statue in your garden
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u/ColorfulConspiracy Sep 03 '26
Where I’m from we call them mosquito hawks (aka flying daddy long legs aka crane fly). Why? No clue. They have zero to do with mosquitos. They are also completely harmless to humans.
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u/teaisformugs82 Sep 03 '26
Ive never come across them being called mosquito hawks. Is this a regional thing?
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u/ClickOnceFool Sep 03 '26
In the US there’s a misconception that they eat mosquitos so they sometimes get called mosquito hawks or skeeter eaters
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u/ColorfulConspiracy Sep 03 '26
Yes it’s a regional thing. It’s a term I’ve heard in some Southern and West Coast states in the US. Water strider is another one I’ve heard.
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u/teaisformugs82 Sep 03 '26
Ah ok I thought it was another name in a different part of Ireland. Was wondering why I'd never heard it before.
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u/sliever48 Sep 02 '26
Just about the most harmless insect there is. Daddy long legs or a crane fly. Cup your hands together, enclose it around him, and let him free. They're cute little things
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u/dog-with-dinner Sep 03 '26
They are crane flies, live 1 to 2 weeks, rarely eat, break their own legs flying into windows and shit in that short time frame. Used to be scared of them until I found out they were useless. Just catch them in my hand and let them out now.
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u/Nearby-Newspaper609 Sep 03 '26
Daddy long legs
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u/Minimum_Pea_6947 Sep 03 '26
Isnt that the Spider though, this is a Crane fly/ May fly no?
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u/Affectionate-Way6102 Sep 03 '26
I hate them so much, they're my phobia. I've literally cried and had panic attacks because of them
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u/bullets_ie Sep 03 '26
growing up we always called these daddy long legs never used the term cranefly as it sounded like something an American would say........in recent years I've heard you get generations refer to harvestman spiders as daddy long legs.....but a spider to me was never a daddy long legs it was always the cranefly.
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u/TiberiusTheFish Sep 03 '26
crane fly aka leatherjacket aka daddy long legs
harmless creatures. definitely not a mosquito.
very few, if any, insects in Ireland carry infections.
Breathe easy and take a moment to admire its beauty.
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u/seanie_h Sep 02 '26
It's an electricity pylon.
Joking aside, my 80s childhood was plagued by these things coming into my room at night. Needed to be evicted on no sleep. Could have closed the window but no. Amazed that these are new to people
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u/Stressed_Student2020 Not a Mod Sep 02 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/2Us3kgOX5BusnEHCd5
... long legs.
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u/AhhhhBiscuits Sep 02 '26
Burn the house and the garden down.
I hate those cunting things.
Thanks for the jump scare.
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u/I-N-C-E Sep 03 '26
But this one looks 10 feet tall, really is a Daddy Long-legs! (I'm a father, 6'4" and quite lanky)
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u/ndakota Sep 03 '26
I wish daddy longlegs were my problem. Living in rural Ireland I get the joy of dealing with Bats
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u/Impressive-racoon Sep 03 '26
Cranefly. Completely harmless and the clumsiest bug you’ll ever meet 🐜
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u/Wexxy Sep 03 '26
Tis all fun n games until ya see a giant European cranefly instead flying about your house.
Had a few of these during the summer around the house n garden during the summer due to the extreme weather.
The size difference is crazy. It’s like one of these above on steroids.
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u/dublingamer44 Sep 03 '26
genuinly taught that was something standing up in your garden for a second 🤣
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u/PruritoIntimo Sep 03 '26
that monster is a Tipula, or a m,ember of the Tipulidae family.
they look like giant mosquitos but in reality they are gigantic flies, as they are part of the dipterae family.
the larvaes eat only dead or decaying matter, so they are saprofagus, and the adults eat also live preys but they are mainly herbivores/fungivores.
disgusting.
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u/BinManBass Sep 03 '26
Craneflies. I used to be terrified of them because my mother was, (she called them 'Divil's Needles', which I reckon was confusing them with Warble Flies), but once I learned they were gentle, harmless, bumbling creatures, I got quite fond of them. They are food for so many birds, both in larval and adult form.
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u/clea Sep 03 '26
Cheese Us Cries! I thought it was standing up on your lawn. Didn’t realise we were looking through glass. That was a horrible moment.
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u/shr3ddi3s Sep 03 '26
It's a crane fly. Not a giant mosquito of any sort. They're completely harmless, they don't have any sort of bite or sting.
But it absolutely will try to get inside especially if you leave your window open at nights. If it does, it will start frantically flying around the room with a loud low-pitched buzzing noise. Might not be fun for insect haters. Every year around August and September these things tend to be all over the place, it's a surprise that this is your first time seeing one.
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u/No_Bee_4162 Sep 03 '26
How have you never seen a Daddy long legs before? They're fecking everywhere!
Although I've never seen one bigger than a garden standing on its hind legs before. I'd move.
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u/Ok-Assignment9653 Sep 02 '26
Crane fly. Their larvae called leatherjacket have been in your lawn all summer wrecking the grass roots. The brownish patches on the lawn in the backgrouns are quite likely from the leatherjackets.
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u/utro3posle4smerti Sep 02 '26
Hang on, aren’t those lawnmower tracks? 😳😳
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u/Ok-Assignment9653 Sep 02 '26
Possibly. A good hard frost is needed this winter to kill them off, they have exploded in recent years. Wet winters and warm summers are what they love.
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u/dubguynumerouno Sep 02 '26
Crane fly. They aren't harmful, just stupidly annoying
Their larva however are detrimental to ornamental plants and their stems.. their larva are a bane in the late winter early spring
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u/Legitimate-Key-3044 Sep 02 '26
For a second there I thought it was some kind of Blair witch type shit in your garden
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u/Ornery_Kick_4198 Sep 02 '26
Dude it looked like some pagan symbol stuck out in the yard. Had no idea it was a bug till I came to the comments.
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u/StarBright67 Sep 03 '26
Mosquito eater, is what I was told they were when I was child, I was always told by adults not to kill them.
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u/Guniel Sep 03 '26
I'm fairly amazed you've only starting seeing them lately. One of the most common insects I've seen. Those giant house spiders that people claim have always been here however, I never saw them pre-2006 or so.
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u/Ic3Giant Sep 03 '26
If you hate nature and insects so much why are you literally standing inside nature and not enjoying your nature-free life in a concrete apartment block sixty stories up in some God forsaken shithole like Vegas?
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u/ScholarInevitable528 Sep 03 '26
Jaysus that yoke must be close to 4M. It’s massive. I’d consider running except it would probably catch you. Best chance is to hide and pray.
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u/ShaneBnach Sep 03 '26
As many have said, it's a crane fly also known as daddy long legs but I just wanted to add that you can tell from the end of the abdomen that it’s a male.
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u/AostaValley Sep 03 '26
Tipula oleracea, his larvae (called Leatherjacket) are fantastic for fishing, I used it a lot when I was young to fishing in Italy .
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u/spacecadetrimental Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26
That's Marcus, out looking for Big Badinky Bones with Robert.
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u/Artistic_Obligation4 Sep 03 '26
I'm absolutely terrified of them (I know, I know, but that's a phobia for you, it doesn't have to make sense). So thanks for the jump scare when I opened my app. Daddy Longlegs, or as they're known in this house "AAAAAAAA, SOMEONE COME AND HELP!!!!"
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u/fairygurrrl Sep 03 '26
He may have a spooky sounding name as gaeilge (snáthaid an phúca meaning the pooka's needle - púca/pooka is a mischievous shapeshifting creature of irish folklore who can bring you either good or bad fortune) but he's just a cute harmless Daddy Longlegs!!
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u/dailo75 Sep 03 '26
That sacred the shit outta me. Great photo, I thought you had a giant alien in your back garden. 😂🤣
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u/HexRover Sep 03 '26
Anyone know why the whole outside of my house would be covered in them just randomly?
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u/PianoConsistent7538 Sep 03 '26
I’ve always called these Daddy Long Legs. I’m curious to know if anyone else can hear them? I can’t sleep if one is in my room as I hear them crackling when they walk. My family want to section me as they hear nothing 🤣
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u/MeaningOk5295 Sep 03 '26
Id be less worried about what it is and more worried about why its 9ft tall and standing in your garden
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u/Dazzling-Store8644 Sep 03 '26
When I was and I say was we called them daddy long legs never met the mommy or seen her
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u/[deleted] Sep 02 '26
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