are crane flies the most venomous insect in the world,or is this just an urban myth?
It's not even an urban myth -- somebody is pulling your leg. Crane flies are non-venomous and completely harmless to humans.
Chuck Norris is the most lethal of all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually crane flies are slightly venomous and their bite inflicts pain like a mild bee sting. I've been bit before so I should know. They won't kill you though but it does hurt for about a minute or two. The only time they bite is if they land on you and you slap them or squish them accidentally. I'm allergic to bees with no major reaction to the crane fly so the two allergies are not related. So yes it's a urban myth... Same thing about daddy long legs...They are not the most venomous spider in the world. Myth Busters busted that one!
This one is definitely a myth, one that has been applied to both crane flies and the arachnids known as daddy longlegs (more properly known as Opilionids, or harvestmen). A simple fact of their biology can put this to bed: the adults of many species of crane fly don't even have mouth parts--the adult form is used soley for reproduction, with no time for food acquisition. Essentially, they mate and die. Production of a highly toxic venom is extremely energetically costly, and when they have no ability to inject it into anything (not even for self defense), it makes no sense for a life strategy. Common sense and simple observation will also tell you that this isn't true. There are stories all the time telling of people who have died from killer bees, or snake bites, or black widows, but when's the last time you saw a news bit on a crane fly fatality? I mean, news outlets, not to mention Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, *live* on stuff like this--yet I've yet to see a special entitled Crane Flies: Nature's Perfect Assassin. ;)
