UKC

Is anyone else experiencing a glut/flood/plague/plethora/encumbrance of daddy-long-legs at the moment? They seem more plentiful than in other years. Anyone know why?

In reply to Removed User:

I rescue them ,whenever I can , from a watery demise

In reply to Removed User: yes, but we assumed it's because we've got all our doors open day and night.

In reply to andy:

Likewise, but I still don't recall seeing so many in other years.

In reply to Removed User: Do you mean jenny-long-legs?

In reply to Removed User:

not here (sheffield) i've seen one this summer...

In reply to mrchewy:

Mr TC's son informs me that they're also crane flies. Not sure if he's right or not.

In reply to Removed User:

Turns out he is.

In reply to Removed User:

Strangely, not seen a single one up here in Scotland. I'm guessing the collective noun will be a "cloud" or "swarm"

In reply to Removed User:

Smart lad

Ask him if he knows what a leatherjacket is.

In reply to Removed User: Yup..we got lots in NE Scotland and later than normal..we've had a much warmer summer than usualwhich i guess is good for them but i also think that the long winter we had stops the larvae from getting active too early on in the year and then snuffing it when things turn inclement again..I did study entomology once but seems an awfully long time ago.....

In reply to interdit:

I would but we're trying to convince him he should be asleep and if he's offered the opportunity to hold forth, it could be midnight...

In reply to Removed User:

That's a coincidence - got a mate on FB going mad about them.

E

In reply to Removed User:

>> Yes there are many lately. They disturb the women in my house although they are harmless. So they (the women) say to me "get rid of them" So I kill some by swatting them, but that is wrong because I smashed them against a clean wall. So I used an insect killing spray which was not good for otherpeoples' lungs. I am not worried about that. So the only way I can resolve this is to get rid of the women in my house, but then who will cook for me?

In reply to Enty:

It seems we have at least one careering round every room in the house. They do provide a bit of sport for the cats, I suppose.

In reply to Padraig:

A fraternity of daddy long legs sounds right

In reply to Removed User:

Its because of the weather.

In reply to Removed User:
"to hold forth,"

Quite interested in this bit. Is it quaint/posh anglo saxon ?

In reply to Padraig:

You must be in a different part of 'up here' cos there are loads in west Lothian.

In reply to Padraig:

Dunno - it's just something my parents used to say about people who spoke at length without considering whether what they were saying was of interest to others. Will use plain words in future.

In reply to Removed User: I've read that in other years their numbers have dropped. Nice to have a good year for insects. I think they provide a good food source for other creatures. The birds have definitely done better in our garden this year as well.

In reply to Removed User: not seen one yet (newark). They alwys provide a great source of food for garden spiders, which i like to play with when they get big and round.

In reply to Removed User:

I was camping this weekend in Shropshire and we saw hundreds and hundreds in the field. Am I right in thinking that thay don't eat? They hatch from larva form (Leatherjacket), mate and die?

In reply to Removed User:

Daddylonglegs to some is a Crane Fly, to others it's a Harvestman.

In reply to Jonny2vests:

I thought a Harvestman was one of those long legged spiders with a rice krispy for a body?

In reply to Removed User:

Holding court is a similar expression.

In reply to Removed User:

Saw hundreds in Duddon last week, must have been twenty in the toilet block at Turner Hall at any one time. Spooked my girlfriends daughter when a few got in her tent.

In reply to Removed User:

On a related note: What possible evolutionary use is there for such stupidly long legs?

In reply to Removed User:

i believe there are still far fewer daddy-long-legs than there were in the 1950s and 60s, when I was growing up. Ditto re. wasps and butterflies. There are certainly also more butterflies this year than in recent years, but still nothing like the qty in the 50s-60s.

The increase this year is said by experts to do with the cold winter (particularly the last long cold spell) killing off a lot of bugs ... (I think).

In reply to Removed User:


It's normal English, and each of the three words only has one syllable, so I don't think you need to be any plainer...

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:


I read that it was the opposite. They benefitted from the wet summer last year, and the mild winter meant that large numbers survived to the spring. There has been a blight this year, the larvae eat cereal crop roots and grass roots.

Cranefly. Known as a Jenny Long Legs to most scots and a Daddy Long Legs down south. The wife would shout - gonnae get that jenny out? Ive caught and released loads this year.

In reply to graeme jackson: We have loads in Lanarkshire too

In reply to Rosco P Coltrane:

Yeah them. Lots of people call them daddylonglegs. And lots of people think they're poisonous too, which is definitely wrong.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth: There was once a plague of ladybirds in the Peak, so bad that on some routes in Chee Dale you couldn't help squashing them on the lower holds. This was put down to an extremely good summer for aphids the previous year. (might have been 1976)

In reply to Removed User:

Is it true that Daddy long leg's have a strong venom but don't have any fangs so can't deliver it?

In reply to doz generale: no

In reply to doz generale:

As I said, urban myth, usually about Harvestmen rather than Crane Flys, neither of which even have venom sacks. I was surprised to hear Ricky Gervais repeat it in his Animals stand up DVD, which otherwise seemed fairly well researched (not that I'm any kind of expert).

In reply to Padraig: When in doubt as to the collective name of anything, I prefer to opt for 'Gaggle'. For example, a gaggle of daddy long legs, a gaggle of snakes, a gaggle of whores.