skeeter hawk east tx

even in south texas (laredo) they were the same thing

Mosquito Hawk...NE Texas. I have always known the true name of Crane Fly, but never called them that.

That's a Gallinipper

or mosquito hawk.

East Texas

I call them crane flies. My gf calls them gallinippers.

One more vote for crane fly! (mosquito hawk if I must choose one of the two)

Mosquito hawk. East of dallas

Mosquito Hawk - Houston

Crane fly. I am from the Internet and the Texas A&M.

Well, if you really want to know…

Folks, this thread is fantastic! I’m an entomologist, and this is the precise example I use in lectures when describing the regional nature of common names, and the inherent problems associated with them. I actually throw a photo of one of these guys up and Ags to shout out the name that they associate with them…and where they grew up. The results are always similar to the responses here.

The common name that is generally accepted by the scientific community is…’crane fly’. But regardless of what you call them, they are true flies and belong to the Order ‘Diptera’, and Family ‘Tipulidae’. Like all flies, crane flies only have one pair of membranous forewings and a pair of modified hind wings called halteres (the stalked knobby appendages in the top image). Mayflies on the other hand belong to the Order ‘Ephemeroptera’, and have two pairs of membranous wings (bottom image).

Daddy long legs is more like a spider

My students training for our entomology team better identify it as a Crane Fly

You folks with st augustine should be most concerned with the leatherjackets that munch away at your lawn before they become crane flies (or mosquito hawks).

Mosquito hawk - Htown

I've always called them daddy long legs.

The spider daddy long legs, I called daddy long leg spider....

Mosquito hawk, DFW

Funny thing about that name, it is the nickname given to dragon flies bc they catch and eat so many Mosquitos.

My west texas family calls them skeeter eaters.

Semi-related: my dog sits at our back door banging her head against the glass trying to eat them. She's a much more effective deterrent than anything I've ever come across.

Mosquito hawk

houston