How Scared Should You Be if You Find This Idaho Bug In Your Home?

Picture this. You're sitting on your couch, binge watching what ever series you've gotten sucked into when you look up and see one of these buzzing across your ceiling. Is that thing going to suck your blood? Is it going to eat other bugs? We dug into the truth about these creepy crawlies.

When this happens at our house, I immediately scream and start begging my husband to kill it. At which point, he'll try to catch it in a paper towel and stick that paper towel right next to my face until I'm on the edge of tears. I don't do bugs.

But it turns out, other than the fact that it's creepy looking as all get out and its flight pattern is erratic enough to really freak people out, this bug is completely harmless. It certainly looks like an oversized mosquito that could leave you with a huge, itchy bite that lasts for days, but that's not at all what it is. The bug in your home is actually one type of 1,500 species of something called a "crane fly."

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The one thing that all of these species have in common is the fact that they lack the piercing mouthparts that female mosquitoes use to drink your blood. There's no way for them to bite you at all.

Chances are that at some point, you've known them as "Skeeter Eaters." You've let them hang around your home or gently shooed them back outside because you're under the impression that they'll eventually eat the "bad bugs." Well, that's not true either.

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According to Naturally North Idaho, most adult crane flies don't eat anything at all during their short lives. Apparently adult crane flies only live 10-15 days. Knowing that makes me feel really bad about asking my husband to smush them. I could've unknowingly cut the poor thing's life in half.

The clumsy way they fly contributes to their short adult lifespan. They're an easy to catch snacks for birds and bats.

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