Mosquito Hawks
Mar. 19th, 2026 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerThis evening I was attending an HOA meeting in our community clubhouse. As the clubhouse has no AC, and with it being quite hot despite being nominally still Winter, we had all the exterior doors open. This meant as twilight set in so did a bunch of insects. A huge moth posted up on one of the walls, then what looked like a humongous mosquito flew near me. Here's a stock picture of the insect:
When a neighbor sat down next to me I pointed to the insect just a few feet away from us and asked, "Is that a mosquito?" I don't know why I asked because I was nearly sure it was. But it's good I did ask— maybe it's that 1% of doubt I held— because I was wrong. All my life I've thought these bugs were giant mosquitos. Today I learned they're mosquito hawks.
"What's a mosquito hawk?" I asked my neighbor. I was a bit dismayed when he pulled out his phone and said, "Hey, Google...." followed by repeated my question. I mean, I could have just looked it up on my phone. I asked a fellow human because he seemed confident in his identification and I wanted to understand the reasons for his confidence.
Technically this insect is called a Crane Fly. "Mosquito hawk" is a colorful common name that's actually inaccurate. It's related to neither mosquitos nor hawks. Nor is it a "Skeeter Eater", another common name that's inaccurate. Crane Flies do not eat mosquitos. They also don't bite or sting humans. They're basically harmless. They're just as unnerving as all hell when you see them bouncing around next to your porch light or getting into your house.
Update: Wait 'til you see what AI thinks mosquito-hawks might look like.... Nightmare fuel! 😨
When a neighbor sat down next to me I pointed to the insect just a few feet away from us and asked, "Is that a mosquito?" I don't know why I asked because I was nearly sure it was. But it's good I did ask— maybe it's that 1% of doubt I held— because I was wrong. All my life I've thought these bugs were giant mosquitos. Today I learned they're mosquito hawks.
"What's a mosquito hawk?" I asked my neighbor. I was a bit dismayed when he pulled out his phone and said, "Hey, Google...." followed by repeated my question. I mean, I could have just looked it up on my phone. I asked a fellow human because he seemed confident in his identification and I wanted to understand the reasons for his confidence.
Technically this insect is called a Crane Fly. "Mosquito hawk" is a colorful common name that's actually inaccurate. It's related to neither mosquitos nor hawks. Nor is it a "Skeeter Eater", another common name that's inaccurate. Crane Flies do not eat mosquitos. They also don't bite or sting humans. They're basically harmless. They're just as unnerving as all hell when you see them bouncing around next to your porch light or getting into your house.
Update: Wait 'til you see what AI thinks mosquito-hawks might look like.... Nightmare fuel! 😨
