chromata

I lived in Portugal for many years and I still remember that with every Summer came its weird cousin mosquitoes. In England mosquitoes also make their appearance although they’re a lot duller in comparison.

Another bug that comes around the same time has long stilted legs and despite being huge it is quieter than mosquitoes and one can only hear them when they bump into something. I thought they were what the Portuguese call ‘melgas’ which are unnoticed when they’re biting, but leave large red spots and sure enough, guarantee that the following day is filled with plenty of scratching and moaning. I’ve been killing these with the same fervour and pleasure that I do mosquitos in some sort of life long vengeance for all the ruined nights and days, only to find that the stilted legged bug is actually what is called a crane fly and not only does not bite humans, they do not bite at all, they’re harmless and only occasionally feed on nectar!

So, filled with regret for murdering these angels I’m trying to find some redemption by looking on the internet why did I mistake these two together but there’s nothing on the internet about ‘melgas’! What are they called in english because I sure did not imagine them.

macliam

As far as you're concerned, melgas are what we call mosquitoes - the ones that seem to get in whatever you do and circle your head with a whiny buzz - and bite.
In fact, anything annoying is a melga to the Portuguese, including people!

As with all such, melgas are attracted to the CO2 we breathe out...... so unless you intend to stop breathing, they will be unwelcome guests.

Mosquito does mean mosquito in Portuguese, but it's rarely used that way.... commonly it's just a term for any small fly, especially the ones that insist on swimming in your tinto.......................... confused?!!

Rambling archer

Are the long-leggedy things what we call daddy-longlegs in the UK? Perfectly harmless bumbling things that often get "lost" inside a house and can never find their own way out? Also known as a cranefly.
A type of spider is also known as daddy-longlegs and is not the same thing at all.

Midgo

The Daddy long legs here are what what my PTOH calls Melgas
But she insists that they bite
She could be wrong ...
https://www.co.thurston.wa.us/health...rane%20fly.pdf

But their larvae (Leather jackets) are a scourge for the lawn
Here its become a plague on the lawns, and next door's gardener told me it was due to the Melgas, but a lot of people think its a fungus.

They are definitely easier to squish than those pesky zippy mosquitoes

I have given up hope of keeping them out of the bedroom and just wear earplugs so they dont annoy me, Job Done.
I was told once that your immune system become more tolerant to mosquitoes in your area over time - cant remember by whom tho.
I am definitely more tolerant these days

macliam

Midgo - most Portuguese believe anything snake-like is poisonous (most don't even bite), osgas (Geckos) spit at you and you'll go blind if they hit your eyes (they don't and you won't) and touching a newt will cause skin disease (not true, though handling a big Iberian Ribbed Newt can be a problem bcause they secrete poison and their ribs can break through the skin and scratch you...). So there are many, many old wives tales to excuse wholesale slaughter of such creatures.

They also believe that a neutered cat won't catch mice (a handy excuse to do nothing..) and we all know how dogs like to be chained up and fed on scraps!

Animal welfare has a long way to go......

chromata

Yes, they’re daddy-longlegs. Appropriate that their legs are said to be stilted because their clumsiness when bumbling around reminds me of teenagers trying to wear stilts for the first time.

Melga is not the same as mosquito. Portuguese mosquito and English mosquito are one and the same thing. Now it seems that melga might be the same as cranefly. At least, according to what Midgo said the plague problem with their larvae is exactly the same for both of them. But the issue is that it is said that adult craneflies are harmless, and indeed they have zero hiding instinct, seem utterly uninterested in our skin, and all they do is bang against the walls and windows over and over and over again.

What I can objectively say is that back in Portugal whenever I saw a melga which I was unable to kill I was almost guaranteed to have itchy red spots by the next morning. These spots are larger than the mosquito’s and swell a bit. But I don’t recall actually seeing melgas digging into the skin, though.

Again apologize for the craneflies sacrificed due to the mix up but so far it seems that they are somewhat the same, except for the blood sucking tendencies.

macliam

Sorry, you're wrong - ask Portuguese people, rather than other Brits. For over 30+ years I have heard this term used all over Portugal and particularly by my in-laws and the wider family to describe biting mosquitoes. As I said before, melga is a generic term for anything annoying - gnats, mosquitoes - AND crane flies (due to their buzzing and bumping into everything).... but the main "melga" is the one thet bites (or "stings" according to the Portuguese - picada). This general term is not helped by the fact that the Portuguese term for a crane fly (pernilongo) is used by Brazilians for a mosquito, or that mosquito just means "little fly" in Portuguese as in "mosquito da fruta" (fruit fly)!

Your issue here is expecting there to be a specific translation for every word in English..... but there are many examples where this isn't the case or where there are multiple translations. Look at melon, which is a "generic" term in English, but in Portuguese may be a melão, a meloa or a melancia, depending on the type. Or an acorn, which may be a bolota (Holm Oak) or a Lande (Cork Oak) - even the trees themselves which have names according to their stage of development (azinheira, azinho, sardão or sardoeira for Holm Oak or sobreiro, sobreira, sobro or chaparro for Cork Oak) - my Alentejano neighbour (90 years old) has 16 different names for the Holm Oak, each of which describes a specific stage. But, he also calls terrapins "conchas" (shells) and has many other alternate names for things!

For me, melga almost always refers to a biting mosquito.

Rambling archer

And in the UK you do not normally - though with climate change that is perhaps changing - get the proper mosquito (as in Spain, south of France - Camargue in particular - and the Med countries, spreading to PT). Uk gnats basically are small with almost all legs the same size but can cause an irritating little itchy lump. A mosquito is bigger than a gnat, has trailing back legs, longer than the rest, and the Camargue ones are twice the size of "normal" mosquitos! The male proper mosquitos are smaller than the females and it is the females that do the blood sucking (not the swarms of smaller males - called something like ephemerals in French because they are somewhat vague and of passing interest). The females need their fix of blood to absorb to activate an enzyme before they can go lay their eggs.

The crane fly (daddy longlegs) is totally inoffensive, has long thin wings as well as its stilt like legs and is huge compared to a mosquito!

sportpix

"Proper" mosquitos can only be found in Asia, in particular in my house in Hong Kong. These are from the Rambo species of biting/stinging/blood sucking insects and some of the larger ones have been seen flying away with small children. Would I lie? For some strange reason they seem to prefer to feed on me rather than wife, who wonders what all the fuss is about when one of the poxy creatures starts buzzing around my ear at 3:30am, and I have to get up and kill it, but then can't find it even with the lights on. And they hunt in very large packs from January to December. Absolutely zero respite.

I think I've seen two mozzies in the year that I've been in Portugal so for me they're a total non-issue. Much more of an issue are ants, which seem to have decided that as I've got two spare bedrooms they should move in with me. I bought some fairly potent bug spray but they seem to just ignore it and continue their quest to feed off my kitchen floor, even though I clean it daily. I would love a solution to getting rid of these particular pests!

macliam

Borax or "Nippon" ant killer, both get taken back to the nest and that's that.