Daddy Longlegs could be tucker for I'm a Celeb (From Bucks Free Press)

Daddy Longlegs could be tucker for I'm a Celeb

10:34am Friday 4th December 2009 in

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THEY are ungainly but scary. They appear in the strangest places around your house and cause the kids to scream.

But until this week, I always thought a Daddy Longlegs was a pretty harmless creature.

Not so, according to my sources because they are apparently causing havoc around the Wycombe district – a fact confirmed now by the council.

I now understand the insects are causing severe problems in several parks as well as High Wycombe Cemetery.

Backchat revealed last week that crane flies were being blamed for destroying large patches of grass on The Rye near the Dyke. Apparently, they lay eggs in the ground and the larvae then feeds on vegetation and damages the roots.

This was the earnest theory of an anonymous reader who kept badgering me to print it.

In truth, I initially took it all with a pinch of salt. How could an insect which could barely keep its legs on its body possibly cause any problem to the environment?

However, another anonymous reader sent me correspondence he/she had been in with Wycombe District Council regarding the Hampden Road cemetery.

The council green space team leader told this reader: “I am afraid that this year we are experiencing a lot of damage to the grass in several recreation grounds as well as the cemetery.

“This is due to the grubs of crane flies that have eaten through the roots of the turf and are now themselves being eaten by birds and animals. This has resulted in large areas of severe damage.”

Catherine Spalton, spokesman for WDC, said the flies were being a “bit of a pest at the moment”. But, while the problem could be treated with chemicals, she added: “It’s neither cost effective nor environmentally-friendly to use this treatment method, especially over large areas like The Rye. Instead, we’ll wait for the larvae to become fully fledged crane flies, at which time we’ll remove any clumps of dead grass and re-seed the affected areas.”

So that teaches me never again to be cynical about bizarre-sounding stories.

But one word of caution to my readers: please don’t carry out vigilante actions against poor old Daddy Longlegs. Do what I do if you find them in the house and scoop them in a box before placing them carefully outside.

Alternatively, you could be nasty and send them off to Ant and Dec in Australia and get one of the jungle celebs to eat them for a ‘Bush tucker trial’.