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European Crane Fly & Common Crane Fly  ....continued How do I determine if I have a problem population of crane flies? Even though that handful looks like a lot of crane fly larvae, it takes way more than this to do significant damage. The young larvae (above right) were picked up off the turf on a wet rainy day in February. They were just lounging around leisurely nibbling the grass. Dr. Gwen Stahnke at WSU Puyallup, says she's seen a healthy turf on good soil suffer NO significant damage from as many as 80 larvae per square foot. (Yes, she counted them all!). On the other hand, on poor soil with unhealthy grass, only 12 larvae have caused damage. Obviously, the key here is to start growing healthy grass that will not be severely damaged by a few crane flies. Please visit Crane Fly Management. How many is too many? The turf and entomology experts at Oregon State University and Washington State University have established the guidelines below through research and experience. Turf people have pretty high standards for commercial turf and golf courses, so if they are comfortable with these numbers, we can relax in the assurance that it will serve as accurate guidelines for home lawns. Average number of crane flies per foot2 Your Decision 0 to 25 Do nothing; fertilize appropriately. May need to treat if turf is young, not well established or with poor root structure. 25 to 50 If your lawn is vigorous and healthy, do nothing. Decisions are based on the health of the turf, your personal tolerance, location and use of the turf 50 to 80 Treat crane fly problem. Look towards long-term solutions, such as replacing problem areas with a turf alternative species. Make sure that the pesticides will not run downhill to streets where they can move to storm drains and on to streams. Birds, small mammals or pets may eat the dead contaminated larvae that come to the surface. So if the damage is not severe hold off. What about that other crane fly? THE COMMON CRANE FLY, Tipula oleraceae. This is a new species similar to European crane fly. It is new to the area and it is not clear yet what implications will be for lawn management. So far, the turf specialists are not seeing damage in summer from this crane fly. For now growing healthy turf is the key for both crane flies. If you find crane fly life stages, at odd times of the year it may be this new species. If so, check the web page. By then we should have new information available. Where do I get information on pesticides if I do have a problem? WSU Hortsense has current pesticide information for crane fly management. To grow a better lawn or prepare for a new lawn, see the WSU Home Lawns Bulletin. "Good turf culture and common sense may be the best weapons we have to control crane fly." -Dr. Tom Cook, Oregon State University Turf Specialist previous				In this article... Introduction Making Decisions Printer-friendly format combines all sections of this subject See also: "They don't drive Harleys" - by Craig MacConnell "Managing ECF in Whatcom Co." - by Todd Murray and Scarlet Tang "ECF- Management History & the loss of Dursban" - Antonelli and Stahnke
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