# Various bugs are trying to kill me... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 5, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736 "2003-06-05T01:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ArtyDooDoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/13edae/32.png) [@ArtyDooDoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArtyDooDoo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/1 "2003-06-05T01:16:05Z")
…or at least really bug (sorry) me. Earlier today, being the good little house wife that i am, i was hanging the laundry on the clothes line. The clothes line is attached to the deck but its up very high so i have to use a stool with two steps to reach it. So i was up there swatting the black flies away whilst trying to keep my balance when a leather jacket flew into my face freaking the poo out of me. i came so close to falling off backwards. On a different note, for some reason i’ve always called leather jackets mother f#&\*ers. I dont know why or where it started. Then this evening there was a wasp in the screened in porch and my kitties like to go out there to watch the birds at the bird feeder so i knew the wasp had to die or it might sting a kitty. So i got a can of raid and just sprayed him enough to make him fall onto the sill. Then i got a screw driver and cut him in half so he wouldnt suffer. But the half with the head and the bum half were both still moving really a lot. In fact the head half was even trying to fly. So i cut off his head. Then his head, middle bit and bum wiggled for almost an HOUR. I kept going back and was shocked and grossed out every time i looked. My husband said to stop looking. So I turned on the computer and was reading straight dope when i realised both my ankles were itching like mad! I looked down and saw three mosquito bites on one and two on the other! So now i’m all crabby, itchy and grossed out. Stupid bugs. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/2 "2003-06-05T01:30:00Z")
What the heck is a “leather jacket”?? (I’m assuming you are referring to an insect and not to an article of apparel you had on the clothes line??) ---
**Author:** ![ArtyDooDoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/13edae/32.png) [@ArtyDooDoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArtyDooDoo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/3 "2003-06-05T01:44:17Z")
A leather jacket is a huge flying bug. They look like a daddy long legs with wings, or a really huge mosquito. They dont bite or sting though. ---
**Author:** ![ArtyDooDoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/13edae/32.png) [@ArtyDooDoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArtyDooDoo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/4 "2003-06-05T02:29:16Z")
I’ve just been informed that they are not called leather jackets. They are crane flies. My husband said he always wondered why i called them leather jackets but never asked. I have no idea why i thought they were called leather jackets. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/5 "2003-06-05T02:32:14Z")
I’ve always heard them called crane flies as well. (And by the way, you and I are likely to have some username confusion issues down the road…) ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/6 "2003-06-05T02:51:47Z")
IIRC, leatherjackets are the grubs that grow up to be crane flies. I’m told they’ll eat your lawn if you have too many. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/7 "2003-06-05T03:07:44Z")
Hmm. In Dallas, TX we have YELLOW jackets, no leather jackets. Well, at least in the bug category. Leather jackets are worn by humans during the 1 month out of the year that it’s cold enough to wear a freaking coat. June Bugs try to kill me every year. They had the NERVE to show up on May 31 this year (He-LLO! It’s not June yet). Childhood phobia, hate them with a vengence. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/8 "2003-06-05T03:31:58Z")
Mosquitoes are the big thing here. Every morning in the summer I wake up with at least ten new mosquito bites on my legs. The larger bugs seem to be a bigger problem (no pun intended) down south. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/9 "2003-06-05T03:38:55Z")
We call em mosquito catchers. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/10 "2003-06-05T03:53:18Z")
I saw my first crane fly when I was about 11. It was on the back screen door and I thought it was the great granddaddy of all mosquitoes. I decided I would never go outside again after seeing that thing but when I looked at my insect field guide and realized it was just a crane fly I calmed down. Years later I was making an insect collection and saw what I thought was a cranefly flying around my parents’ porchlight. I grabbed it in my hand–and found out very quickly it was a wasp. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/11 "2003-06-05T14:17:16Z")
Hi jackalope. Welcome to the boards, enjoy your stay. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/12 "2003-06-05T14:41:17Z")
I was trying to figure out why you were hanging a leather jacket out with the rest of your laundry, and why on earth you had put it through the washing machine… Oh, and I’ve called them mosquito hawks. ---
**Author:** ![ArtyDooDoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/13edae/32.png) [@ArtyDooDoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArtyDooDoo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/13 "2003-06-05T15:51:06Z")
Why thank you Khadji 🙂 Ethilrist, lol sorry 🙂 Blonde, I think thats where i must have gotten confused. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-bugs-are-trying-to-kill-me/179736/14 "2003-06-05T18:15:47Z")
The bug I’ve known as the mosquito hawk is the dragonfly. It really does eat mosquitoes. It has two pair of clear, stiff wings, and it looks like a combat helicopter in flight.