A crane fly is a large insect with a short lifespan. The immature larvae can eat up your lawn, but they’re generally not considered a pest. There are a few simple ways to get rid of them.

Crane flies look like mosquitoes, but these two aren’t related. Here’s how they differ, plus how to get rid of crane flies and their destructive larvae.

Crane fly larvae do better in moist soils than dry, so water deeply and less often; ... using a registered product for lawn- insect and grub control specific to crane flies.

Crane flies have four distinct life stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. “Crane fly adults that you see flying around are at the final stage of their life cycle," Bogan said.

The European crane fly earned a bad reputation for destroying lawns after it came across the border from Canada in the mid-1960s. The larvae of the insect sometimes called leatherjackets live in ...

By Kym Pokorny The Oregonian Thursday, Dec. 2, 1999 The non-native European crane fly didn't land on American soil until 1952 -- or at least that's when it was first sighted at Newfoundland. By ...

When mature, the larvae are about about 1 to 1½ inch long. Female crane flies have extended abdomens, which house eggs and are capped with an ovipositor.

Crane fly larvae feed on the roots and crowns of grass, leaving bare spots that can be rejuvenated with seeding and fertilizing. ... "They will die soon so there's no need to spray," McDonald said.

Like many other insect species, crane flies have four stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Eggs. Female crane flies lay their eggs in moist ground, usually along sources of ...

When mature, the larvae are about about 1 to 1½ inch long. Female crane flies have extended abdomens, which house eggs and are capped with an ovipositor.

You may be a victim of a lawn insect infestation helped along by the mild winter. Adult crane flies resemble large mosquitoes and generally appear in late July into mid-October.