During this summer’s many warm evenings our house was invaded by large numbers of daddy-longlegs, which spent much of their time crashing haphazardly about as they tried to find their way out of the open windows.

The ‘daddy-longlegs’ is in fact the name given to one of several species of cranefly, which are among the largest and most familiar flies in Britain.

Long-bodied, long-winged and long-legged, these intriguing insects appear equipped to be remarkable fliers, yet they often fly about in such a chaotic fashion that they seem never to have progressed beyond the first stage of the insect flight manual.

A particularly clumsy individual repeatedly tried to land on my head during a walk in some local woods, then promptly gave up and tried to seek sanctuary in the nearest dark recess – my mouth!

As a child I was intrigued by the fragile structure of craneflies and the casual way in which those long spider-like appendages were shed as they collided with windows, lamp shades and ornaments in my home.

I used to enjoy the daddy-longlegs’ child-friendly nature, in particular the way they can be readily captured without the threat of a bite or a sting – despite some of my friends repeating the myth that they are poisonous and to be avoided.

The tough-skinned larval stage of the cranefly – often called ‘leatherjackets’ – spend their time in the upper layers of the soil, often feeding on grass roots in our lawns. Here, they are readily sought by birds, with starlings in particular often seeking out the juicy subterranean parcels.

Although most people use the quaint term ‘daddy-longlegs’ for craneflies, there are many other local names in use. One of my favourites is ‘granny nobble-knee’, which originates from Kent.

In order to improve the public image of craneflies, the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust teamed up with a brewery in that county to produce the ‘Cranefly Ale’. The publicity for the product emphasised the important role craneflies play in natural ecosystems, where the adult stage is eaten by birds, bats and spiders.

Daddy-longlegs form part of the one of the world’s oldest and most diverse families of flies. Other British craneflies include the dramatically-patterned hornet cranefly, which mimics wasps, and the intriguingly-named white-footed ghost cranefly, which can be found near moss-laden springs.