Yes, they feed Swifts, Martins, Swallows and Bats. The adults don't help in pollinating and are effectively transport systems for their eggs that are laid (depending on exact species) in soil with roots to feed on, usually lawns.

...like everything, they have their place in nature, not least for their use as food for creatures higher up the food chain. Did I mention others like Dragonflies, Damselflies, Robber Flies, Wasps and of course Spiders feed on then too.

.....and they are host both in adult and larval stages to various insect hyperparasites from the true flies and distant relatives (Tachinidae) and from the Hynenoptera order such as Chalcid and Ichneumon wasps.

The larvae are also food for many birds such as Starlings, Choughs, Rooks, Oystercatchers, Woodcock and of course said Badgers.

....but in answer to the primary aspect of your initial question Spritz, no, except if you can see a certain beauty and poetry in their clumsy flight back lit with the golden light of autumn turning them into something other than they really are in your minds eye.....:-))))))

Not to my knowledge Barbara, only as food for the birds, crows also like the leatherjackets and can also make a mess of a lawn. The old way we used to catch them was to lay a tarpaulin on the lawn in the afternoon, roll it back in the morning, sweep the leatherjackets up then we would feed them to the chicken, in the absence of chicken destroy them basically

Thank you for the lesson in four parts, Fractal. I shall comment further thus: Swifts, Martins & Swallows have sadly departed for warmer climes. Our bats - yes, we are officially 'batty' here - have, I believe, retreated into the roof space once more.

I would be delighted should any of the other creatures come and eat them!

Most of the birds you mention do not frequent my garden, sadly, apart from starlings.

Unfortunately, all I see in my mind's eye when I consider these clumsy long-legged insects is black-and-white animals ploughing up my lawn!

(We have our fingers crossed this year as the electric fence seems to be effective!)

Docbob - How I wish we could follow your advice. It's rather difficult though, as we have such large areas of lawn. A tarpaulin would look a bit daft unless they're available in about quarter-acre sizes! LOL.

Seriously though - do you think it would be of any use to move a normal sized one around onto a different section each day?

Pipistrelle bats will still be about during mild spells :-)

Love Badgers but I can understand your situation and sympathise.

I think moving it would work Spritz.

I can't remember which ones we have - short eared brown??? OH sent off some droppings to English Nature and they ID'd them and sent lots of leaflets explaining our legal responsibilities and info about bats, too. They're certainly not Pipistrelles, though.

I like being officially 'batty'! It's great to watch them wheeling about at dusk in summer. :-))

Thanks, Fractal - I'll ask OH to get it out and we'll have a go in the spring. :-))

Bats are one of my very favourite groups of animal. Love them! I have Pipistrelle's (don't know which of the two recently recognised species they are) but loved watching a male pestering a female several weeks ago obviously with the intention to mate (which you probably know they do in autumn) but she wasn't having any of it. She flew into upstairs window while he landed near the window. He was too frightened to go in. She appeared soon of course and they both flew off with her intended in hot pursuit!

Noctule bat seen once too a few weeks earlier flying before sunset at some height with Martins and Swifts, and no less a superb flyer than those two either!. Splendid species.

Great fun...if our son comes to stay, he spends hours outside watching them. I'd love a photo - but it's impossible, of course...

I so nearly got a good shot of them (Pipistrelle's) a few weeks ago! The back light was perfect and they would have been in silhouette. Really miffed that they didn't return after I set camera for them!!! They had been following a set flight pattern so I thought I could get them easily. Wrong!

Oh dear. I'm sorry. My camera can't be pre-set, so I haven't a hope of even trying that. I hope you get another chance.

Yes Barbara, you've answered it yourself, if you had a tarpaulin that big you wouldn't be able to move it. Lol. have a small one and move it around each day to a different spot, we had four small tarps on a 3 acre lawn moved in a pattern to cover the whole area, end result was very limited amount the next year.

crane flies are just as fractal says Spritz. and a beautiful topic for photography as you captured only last week :o)

Docbob - when would you say was the right time to try the tarpaulin? The badgers 'were' coming in each spring.

From about end of October where you are Barbara when the leatherjackets are small and haven't made too much damage to your lawn.

Thanks. I'll do that! :-))))

If you didn't mind using chemicals Provado make a lawn grub killer. We have chafer grubs and leatherjackets in one area of the lawn. It is too late to apply now as the chafers and blackbirds have made a complete mess of it but I have bought some for next year.Will also re-seed the area.
May-June for chafers and Aug-Sept for leatherjackets.
It could be that you have chafer too Spritz :((

If they are the nasty cream-coloured 'C' shaped things, then yes, I have. I find them in the flowerbeds sometimes and put them on the birdtable.

Aster - thanks, but do you realise how many bottles/containers of Provado that would take???? LOL. I will take a look at it, though. ;-)