Large Flying Insect with Tusk-Like Pinchers and XL Antennas
January 22, 2010
Dear Bugman
This encounter happened while visiting my family, in rural North Eastern Pennsylvania. It was July 20th, around 8:30 pm, when this bug crashed into the wall of my porch. I was startled by the noise and by the size of what landed on the 2″x6″ next to me. The bug seemed to be quite stunned from the collision as well and stayed rather still, while i made this picture. I live on a lush hillside of Mt Washington in Los Angeles and have seen some very interesting bugs, but never anything like this….Have you ever seen this bug before?
Lee Thompson
Rural North Eastern Pennsylvania

Dobsonfly

Hi Lee,
This is the third male Dobsonfly image we posted this week, but the interesting thing is that none of the images were recent images.  We are curious what in the zeitgeist caused our readership to begin to submit old photos of Dobsonflies this week.

Some sort of moth?
January 20, 2010
Hi Bugpeople! I’ve been an avid reader of your site for the past year or so and I’ve been meaning to submit this photo for some time.
It looks like some sort of moth, but I’ve never seen one with a mandible that size. This was taken in the early summer of 2005 in Southwestern Connecticut. It was on the pavement outside of a well-lit strip mall around 9 or 10 PM. I’m sorry that I don’t have anything in the photos for scale, but from the tip of the mandible to the other end was about 6 inches. It was very slow-moving and did not scurry or seem alarmed at the presence of several people crowding around it. What’s that bug?
Thanks and keep up the great work!
Alexis K.
Norwalk, CT

Dobsonfly

Hi Alexis,
We are happy to hear you are a fan of our website.  This stunning creature is a male Dobsonfly.  The mandibles indicate that it is a male.  Though they are rather frightening in appearance, they are harmless, but the much more modest appearing mandibles of the female are capable of producing a painful pinch if she is carelessly handled.  This sexual dimorphism indicates that the mandibles of the male have developed as either an aid in mating, or as a competition between males for sexual prowess, but despite the frequency of Dobsonfly submissions to our site, we have yet to see a photograph of either the actual mating act, or the male using his mandibles in any manner.  Adult Dobsonflies are short lived and do not feed, living only to mate and produce a new generation.

mystery bug in Virginia
June 3, 2009
About 10 years ago in Amelia, VA I found a bug outside our camping tent. I did not have a camera at the time, so my description may be very vague. It was brown, about 3 inches long, and had large pinching mandibles that might resemble those of a stag beetle. Its wings were rather large, covered most of its body, and (if I remember correctly) were laid flat on its back in a triangular shape. They were not transparent and had a brown and black color pattern to them. I only got a brief glimpse of this scary-looking insect before I ran from it (I was only 9 at the time). I do recall seeing a preserved specimen of this same species at a zoo, and I think the name attached to it might have started with the letter D. As I’ve said before, my description is based off of a 10 year memory of a bug that I’ve only seen once. Any kind of identification or suggestion of what it could have been would be greatly appreciated, as I have been trying to find it online for the past few years.
Megan
Amelia, Virginia, USA

Dobsonfly Drawing

Hi Megan,
Both your excellent description and your drawing indicate that you saw a Dobsonfly ten years ago.  We are sorry we were unable to respond when you wrote in June, as we were in Ohio visiting Mom.  Upon our return, we had so much mail we ignored most of it until the past few day when we are responding to some requests at random.  We are posting your letter and drawing to What’s That Bug?

long odd bug with weird coloring
December 6, 2009
we were camping in ontario and came across this bug walking on the grass
Sarah Veilleux
ontario

Male Dobsonfly

Dear Sarah,
December is sure an odd time of year to encounter a male Dobsonfly in Canada.

sorry, it was september. i forgot to mention that. are they abundant in canada?
thanks

They are not uncommon.

Winged bug on our yard
August 19, 2009
This morning my boys found this winged bug crawling on the grass. We know it must fly because of it’s wings, but it has just been crawling around. We found it in the morning just after the sun came into the yard. It appears to have pincers on its head and rears up when we get near it. Any help would be great! Thanks!
Stacey
Abancay, Peru (Andes mtns-approx 8,000ft)

Dobsonfly from Peru

Hi Stacey,
If you run into our co-workers from LACC, two hot American college professors named Sharon and Naima who are vacationing in the Andes, please say “hola” for us.  This is an awesome looking Dobsonfly in the family Corydalidae, but we haven’t a clue what species it is.  We suspect it is a female Dobsonfly as males have much more formidable mandibles.

Dobsonfly from Peru

Your photos are all so dramatic, we are going to post all three.

Dobsonfly from Peru

What’s this bug I found?
August 9, 2009
I found this bug in my tool box at work. It was a very week flyer. I placed the corner of a newspaper near its mouth and it bit into it. The jaws were like a big ant.
Scott A. E. (ed. note:  surname withheld to prevent positive identification and potential public ridicule)
Niagara Falls, NY

Summer Fishfly Impaled

Dear Scott,
This is a Summer Fishfly, Chauliodes pectinicornis.  According to BugGuide, the species name pectinicornis means comb-horned and refers to the antennae which are quite different from the similar looking though considerably larger Dobsonfly. We doubt that you are beginning an insect collection as the object that has impaled this Summer Fishfly does not appear to be an entomologist specimen pin.  This is speculation on our part, but we suspect this living Summer Fishfly was impaled to keep if from escaping so that it could be photographed, and it might have still been alive when the photo was taken.  In our minds (and perhaps also the minds of some of our readership) this would constitute Unnecessary Carnage.  We have taken the liberty of editing your surname from our posting in the event that friends and acquaintances of yours happen to read this posting since we are being careful about defamation of character. Other than to say that the jaws of the Summer Fishfly bit into a newspaper, you did not indicate that you were threatened by it, and since Summer Fishflies are perfectly harmless, we feel that there was no need to kill this insect.