'Skeeter eaters' don't really eat mosquitoes, but they do serve an important purpose

Thousands of North Texans are dealing with squatters; uninvited guests that have moved in without even paying rent.

Anyone who has opened a door has probably welcomed many of the pesky flying bugs inside.

They look somewhat like mosquitoes, but they’re not.

“The common name is crane fly,” said Alison Ravenscraft, assistant professor of biology at UT-Arlington and a self-described ‘bug nerd.’ “When I came to Texas I heard skeeter eater, mosquito hawk and I’ve also heard daddy long legs.”

Whatever they’re called, Ravenscraft says you may have seen a lot more of them this spring and there’s a reason for that.

“We had a pretty mild winter and a wet spring,” she said.

Those are the perfect conditions for crane flies to mature from the larvae and pupal stage to full-grown, flying adults. In the larval stage, crane flies can survive up to three years. Ravenscraft says many of the adult crane flies we’re seeing now may have simply been larvae, patiently waiting years for the right conditions.

Although some people think they look like large mosquitos, they’re not. However, once crane flies appear, mosquitos are soon to follow.

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