[jrgoff]

Just to add to the common name list - I grew up in Alaska and we called the crane flies "mosquito eaters" there.

[OkayPhysicist]

Definitely learned the name "'skeeter eater" growing up, but I'm not sure whether that was a Virginian regionalism or my dad's eccentricity.

[dynisor]

Were also called mosquito hawks or mosquito eaters in Southern California. Looking back, grandparents were actually from Oklahoma, so I now have no idea if it was regional or just us. Daddy Long Legs are Cellar Spiders here though. For sure.

[xp84]

California raised, but my father who taught me the name mosquito eater was Southern.

I don’t want to hear any evidence that it’s not completely factual. In my worldview it’s real.

[pvaldes]

Crane flies are vegetarian and harmless for animals. Robber flies are specialized predators of other flies, so: mosquito eaters. Different evolutionary lines.

We could say that crane flies are like insect equivalent of cranes and robber flies are like hawks. In fact they are called hawk flies also.