Due to the recent and rather unusual California rainfall, the amount of water in reservoirs hasn't been the only thing increasing. The intermittent rainfall is the ideal weather for crane flies to breed and populate.
Many people commonly mistake these scary looking insects for mosquitoes. Others call them as "daddy long legs with wings" or "mosquito hawks". Whatever you want to nickname them, crane flies have been all over San Diego county.
Chris Conlan, San Diego County's Supervising Vector Entomologist, says the heavy winter rains are to blame.
Conlan says, "The moist conditions make for the perfect breeding ground. Once the weather starts to dry up in the spring, the crane flies come out and play in droves."
Despite the crane fly's scary and intimidating appearance, they don't bite people or animals.
Conlan again states, "One of the big differences between mosquitoes and crane flies, is that mosquitoes fly around people and try to bite them [whereas] crane flies just mind their own business."
Unfortunately for San Diego county residents, crane flies are exceptional at breeding and laying eggs. They do have a short life span, however.
The flies really only live for a day, but let's just hope that their small life span helps regulate the huge amounts of crane flies flying around.