Cornell entomologists are seeking volunteers from around New York state to help survey crane flies in the state for two weeks in September.

New York hosts two invasive crane fly species -- and many native species -- that scientists in Cornell's Soil Insect Ecology Laboratory at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva want to monitor. The two non-native species can severely damage all types of turfgrass and forage grass species and are also known to attack seedling nurseries and a wide range of vegetable and small-fruit crops.

Crane flies, which don't bite, look like oversized mosquitoes with extra long legs. The flies emerge in the early fall, but it is the larvae in the early spring, and sometimes in the late fall, that devour roots and cause yellow spots and bare patches in grass. The invasive species were first identified in New York in 2004 by Cornell entomologists.

"People participating in the survey and collection will not have to worry about which crane fly is which," said Debra Marvin, an extension aide working on the project with Matthew Petersen, a Cornell postdoctoral associate. "They all look very much the same. We will accept any crane fly, because we are building a database for reference."

Added Petersen: "We will use the collected crane flies to evaluate new tools for species identification."

The volunteer citizen-scientists will be asked to go out to such areas of turfgrass as home lawns, city parks or sports fields to collect several crane fly specimens, if found, at each location and send them in for identification. No prior knowledge of these insects is required, and participants will be provided with detailed instructions.

Volunteers are particularly needed in the following counties: Chautauqua, Niagara, Erie, Monroe, Ontario, Tompkins, Tioga, Cortland, Jefferson, Oswego, Oneida, Herkimer, Madison, Saratoga, Warren, Fulton, Dutchess, Ulster, Putnam and Nassau.

For more information, e-mail Petersen at mjp266@cornell.edu or Marvin dem35@cornell.edu.