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Unknown Bug From San Diego County
July 28, 2009
Found this Bug on the side of a shaded rock adjacent to perrenial creek with a really low water flow. Found it during the day on July 20. When I approached it to photograph it it did not move away at all.
Frank Santana
Boulder Creek, San Diego California

California Dobsonfly

Hi Frank,
Our reference book, Insects of the Los Angeles Basin by Charles Hogue, identifies this as a California Dobsonfly, Neohermes californicus.  This is a distinct genus from the eastern Dobsonfly, Corydalus cornutus, which is a much larger insect and can be viewed on our site as well as on BugGuide.  Your specimen is classified on BugGuide as a Gray Fishfly in the genus Neohermes, but there is no page devoted to Neohermes californicus.  There is an acknowledgment on the genus page that the species Neohermes californicus is known as the California Dobsonfly.  We provide this background information because when we did a web search of California Dobsonfly, we found some wonderful images on BugGuide that referenced out own website as a source.  Interestingly, those photos from El Dorado County in northern California were taken the same day as your photo.  Since it is not terribly professional to cite oneself when doing research, we wanted more assurance that we could properly identify your impressive creature.  So, for clarification, your insect is Neohermes californicus, a Gray Fishfly sometimes called the California Dobsonfly.

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