Insect News

Crane flies have landed ever so lightly in San Antonio, which means one thing

Crane flies: fragile, sweet, harmless.

The crane flies have arrived in San Antonio, and this year, they're here in droves.

Fragile, leggy, and whisper-light, crane flies are most often found around streams and lakes. But at certain times of year, they show up in urban areas, hovering and bobbing around houses and doorways.

If you live in certain areas — green, suburban areas — you've surely encountered them or seen complaints on your cranky Facebook neighborhood page. This, even though they don't bite or want to bother you in any way.

To bug experts like Janet Hurley, an Extension Program Specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, their arrival means one thing: Spring is officially here.

If they seem to be in larger numbers, it's, as usual, related to weather.

"The weather has been warmer, and we've had a number of damp days," Hurley says. "We've also had an unusual 2023, with spring bouncing in and out for a couple months. They usually show up during or right before spring break. But we all joke that if you see the crane fly, you won’t be seeing freezing temperatures again."

Of all the pests Texas must endure, crane flies have to be the most innocuous. Now-retired Texas A&M entomologist Mike Merchant called them "among the gentlest of insects."

It's a myth that they prey on or are related to mosquitoes. Crane flies are larger, and unlike mosquitos, their wings do not have scales. They also don't want your blood. They live on fat reserves built up during their larval stage.

They live short but amorous lives. Their sole purpose is to mate and make more crane flies for next spring.

Hurley says that they might be a nuisance but to consider the alternatives.

"Once they're gone, the mosquitoes come in," she says.

sustainability nature crane flies

hottest headlines of 2024

10 most popular stories that capture city life in San Antonio in 2024

Getty Images

Readers were mostly drawn to data about schools and finance, but tree health took precedent.

Editor's note: At the end of 2024, we're looking back at the stories that shaped San Antonio this year. In the case of CultureMap's City Life section, it was actually the other way around: San Antonians were most interested in gathering data and understanding where the city stands against others nationally. This year, we looked into education, income, and retirement. Yet taking care of trees outshined it all. Here are San Antonio's top 10 city stories of 2024.

1. Texas tree group issues dire warning to San Antonio owners of oak trees. A nonprofit dedicated to trees issued a warning to Texas citizens who own oak trees: Put down the pruning shears to avoid oak wilt.

2. Stellar San Antonio high school ranks among America's best in 2024, says U.S. News. The 2024 rankings put BASIS San Antonio - Shavano Campus at No. 64 nationally. The school also ranked No. 13 nationally among the best charter schools and No. 76 among the best STEM high schools.

3. 3 San Antonio-area companies hailed best places to work by U.S. News. Frost Bank, iHeartMedia, and the New Braunfels-based Rush Enterprises, Inc. made the list, which considered work-life balance, quality of pay, stability, and more.

4. 2 San Antonio neighbors relax among best places to retire in the Hill Country. New Braunfels and Boerne hung up their hats with other small towns with relatively low costs of living, low crime rates, and a variety of attractions.

5. San Antonio university ranks No. 18 among best small colleges in U.S. Trinity University has made the high honor roll. The esteemed San Antonio university ranks among America's top 20 small colleges and liberal arts colleges for 2025 by Niche.

6. 2 San Antonio billionaires land on Forbes' new list of richest Americans. Charles Butt and Eleanor Butt Crook, the chairman and a member of the board of directors of H-E-B, respectively, had estimated net worths of $8.9 billion and $3.7 billion.

7. San Antonio is the No. 4 most educated city in the country, says Forbes. In San Antonio, the bachelor’s completion rate for people 25 and up was 67.30 percent, and 29.56 percent of people in that age group have advanced degrees.

8. San Antonio university ranks No. 3 among best Texas colleges for 2025. Trinity University does it again. The private university performed the best in the category for best admission rates, ranking No. 2 with a 28 percent acceptance rate, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Trinity University aerial shot Trinity University made two appearances in this top 10 list.Trinity University/Facebook

9. This is how much it costs to raise a child in San Antonio. Raising a child certainly isn't cheap. In San Antonio and New Braunfels, annual costs of raising just one child can add up to more than $21,000 every year — and that wasn't even that high compared to the rest of the list.

10. Here's what it takes to be a middle class earner in San Antonio in 2024.According to the 2024 edition of SmartAsset's annual report, middle class households in San Antonio would need to make between $39,215 and $117,658.