I found this outside on a screen in front of my house. It doesn't exactly look deadly but I'd like to know what it is...at first I thought it was a mosquito eater, we have tons of them...but upon closer inspection, it seems to have a lot more going on. The eyes are different and the body is kinda furry...different from a mosquito eater. It's also a lot bigger than a ME...from the tip of the toes on the left to the tip of the toes on the right, it's probably about 3-4 inches. I'm in the Sacramento, CA area....
Weird fly thing
This is simply a very large crane fly -
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/Insects/Crane%20Fly/crane_fly.jpg
Although sometimes called 'mosquito eaters, they do not eat mosquitoes (or much of anything else, for that matter). Some adults do not appear to feed at all...
Hmmph...interesting. I thought I had heard that they really don't eat mosquitoes, but I grew up calling them that so the name kinda just stuck. Thanks for the info...I never realized how cool bugs were....this one should be considered a mammal considering how hairy it is. I just know it must feed its young milk!!! Thanks for the info...
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