We have swarms of these things around right now. They look like a huge mosquito, but don't have stingers that I can tell. They have six legs with the front pair having white tips. They are flying insects and seem to want to hang out on plastic or metal stuff (car hoods and trash cans). They also have been eating at the dead June bugs that are all over the place.

 

Looks like the kind of bug I'd squash.

 

Yeah, been doing quite a bit of that too, but they are getting rid of lots of the June bugs (just noticed that yesterday) so unless they are real bad I think I'll leave them.

For a while I thought they were huge mosquitos, so I was smashing them right and left, but they don't bite so ?????

 

Could be a Mayfly...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayfly

 

Thanks for the reply. Not a mayfly. We have those around here too, but these are different. Wish I could get a better picture, but they aren't very photogenic.

 

hard to tell from the picture, but maybe a mosquito hawk

 

Looks like a Mantis crossed with a Mayfly. Weird. As long as it don't bite or sting it wouldn't bother me!

Kurt

 

I was going to say the same thing. Others know them as a "crane fly", although I don't think that they would eat june bugs.

 

Gerridae?

(stcl)

 

Real close to that, but not quite that either. Probably some evil mutant thing that will end up causing mass destruction. . . . but they are attacking the June bugs, so I think I'll leave them be. They haven't bothered me at all yet.

 

gerridae are predatory insects... altho they are usually found on water.
There are also some flys that look similar, but since your's has no wings, Im not sure...

 

It does have wings and they fly, but they aren't very quick. It does look close to the water bugs (gerridae) that get on our pool in the summer, but not quite the same thing.

They don't have any antennae and the ends of their front legs are white. Might be some kind of fly, just haven't figured out exactly what kind yet. My wife's aunt is doing some research on them. She just retired from the vet school, so she knows some "buggy" folks there to ask.

 

try bugguide.net

 

never seen that one but we have swarms of giant mosquito lookin things that dont bite but do keep my black lab DEAZAL entertained he eats everyone he can catch out of mid air.....

 

Bluetail Fly.... be careful.