giant 5″, beetle-like bug with long mandibles, 6 legs and 4 glassy clear and black wings
Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 10:56 AM
he or she is clinging on the wall outside our office in Indianapolis, in the shade, it’s about 95 degrees outside. When agitated with a paper, it bites at the paper with mandibles, but doesn’t fly away. It moved over to the edge of the column away from the paper after a while. It did not move it’s wings at all, but would move it’s head, articulating on the long neck.
My guess is some kind of North American Stag Beetle? Maybe it’s moulting or something and doesn’t want to use it’s wings?
Disappointed I can’t use “Green or Brown, depending on if I’ve watered.” as the answer to the human test.
Alex in Indy
Indianapolis, IN, USA

Dobsonfly

Hi Alex,
We have been away for several days attending a wonderful outdoor wedding in the redwood forest in Mendocino. While there we saw our very first live Banana Slug, though we did not photograph it. We will talk to our web host about the human question on our form. This is actually a male Dobsonfly. We have recently posted several images of female Dobsonflies with their smaller mandibles as well as an image of an immature Hellgrammite. The male Dobsonfly, according to the information we have read, uses his mandibles to compete for a mate, but we have never seen photo documentation to that effect.

locust like with very long pincers
Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 6:38 PM
We found a live bug in the trees of the North Georgia Mountains. It is 4 and 1/4 inches long with long, external, transparent wings, marked with black “sketches” to look like birch bark. It has what appears to be two sets of small mandibles, one set it straight and the other curved. It also has a pair of very long, thin, 2 inch mandible like peices that resemble calipers and cross in front. Its head is large, thick and ziggurat shaped. The bug also has a strong rotting oder. (It is very alive and kicking however–not dead!) I appologize for the condition of the photo–I don’t have a great zoom on my camera. Thanks so much for your help!
Heather Johnston
Elijay, North Georgia Mountians

Male Dobsonfly

Hi Heather,
The descriptiveness and entertainment value of your letter more than makes up for the blurriness of your photo. This is a male Dobsonfly who can be distinguished from the female by his caliper-like mandibles. Though they look quite fierce, they actually are incapable of biting. The female is the biter. The mandibles of the male are used, according to what we have read, in the mating process or in the competition for the mate. We would love to see photo documentation of that. We have just recently posted several photos of female Dobsonflies and a photo of the closely related Giant Fishfly, so your letter is a welcome addition to our site. The Dobsonfly is one of our most common summer identification requests.

Thank you for your response.  It is particularly good to know that the dobsonfly does not wield those mandibles on hikers!
Much appreciation,
Heather Johnston

Moth?
Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Hi Lisa and Daniel,
I can’t figure out if this is a lacewing or a moth or neither (the antennae are throwing me off). I researched numerous images online but can’t find a picture of it. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Katherine Gividen
Tylertown, Mississippi

Summer Fishfly

Hi Katherine,
This is a Summer Fishfly, Chauliodes pectinicornis, which differs from the related Dobsonfly in that the Summer Fishfly has combed or pectinate antennae while those of Dobsonflies are threadlike or beadlike.  Both insects are in the order Megaloptera and the Family Corydalidae.   According to BugGuide:  “Larvae aquatic, omnivorous: detritivores, or herbivores, also predatory on other invertebrates.  Larvae tend to live in calm bodies of water with lots of detritus. Larvae leave the water to pupate under bark, inside rotting logs. Pupation takes approximately 10 days. Adults emerge to mate, live perhaps a week. There appears to be just one flight per year, and the life cycle may be just one year, though older references quote a 2-3 year life cycle. Eggs are laid in masses on vegetation near still bodies of water. Larvae hatch and crawl to water. “  We will be posting your letter and photo between tow letters and photos of Dobsonflies for comparison.

large insect w/ big chompers in central Texas
Tue, May 26, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Howdy. I live in Austin, TX, but my family has a weekend house near the west Texas town of Llano. We were there this past weekend and found this big guy on the screen door to the kitchen. These photos don’t give a sense of scale, but the thing was about 3 1/2 inches from the tip of the jaws to the end of the wings. I couldn’t tell whether it had one set of wings or two. We didn’t bother the bug, and it didn’t bother us, but its big jaws looked respectable. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Randall
Llano county, west Texas

Dobsonfly

Hello Randall,
This is a female Dobsonfly.  Just yesterday we posted a photo of a Hellgrammite, the larva of a Dobsonfly.  The male Dobsonfly has even more impressive mandibles, but it is the female that is capable of delivering a painful nip.  Though the bite of a female Dobsonfly can pinch, she is basically harmless.

WHAT IS THIS CREATURE??
Mon, Jul 9, 2007 at 6:59 AM
Dear Bug-Guys,
I saw this creature outside my job today. I work in Jamaica, Queens, NY — I
have never seen this bug anywhere before – EVER! I didn’t even try to google
it or anything — I just turned to you guys.
Its about 4″ long, with large wings covering its body up to its head. Its
got two bulging eyes that were looking right at me while I was taking its
picture. Let me tell you it knew I was there and it didn’t look happy! I
think it was hurt  because it didn’t attack or fly away — it just kept
circling around to look at us. Its got two antennae and two very large
pincers near its jaws.
Please help identify this thing.
Oh, and just so you know, we didn’t kill it. My coworker and I got it to
climb onto a stick and we moved it off the sidewalk and onto a grassy patch
by the LIRR train station so it’d be safe. Thought you’d appreciate that.
Have a good one,
Pete from Brooklyn

Male Dobsonfly

Hi Pete,
Actually, from May through July, this is one of our most common identification requests.  This is a male Dobsonfly, a perfectly harmless creature.  The female Dobsonfly has much smaller, but considerably more formidable mandibles.  The big mystery for us is why your email from nearly two years ago just entered our inbox today.

sci-fi insect monster
Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 11:00 AM
We just found this bug in the southeastern part of Brazil, just outside of Sao Paulo city. It was about five inches long (including those huge pincers). It entered the house late at night flying around, and looked like it had two sets of wings. It can bend the top part of its body backwards to use those pincers. Can you tell us what it is?
Creeped out in Brazil
Juquitiba, SP, Brazil

Male Dobsonfly

Dear Creeped Out,
This is a male Dobsonfly.  Though those mandibles look quite formidable, he is actually quite harmless.  The female Dobsonfly has much less impressive mandibles, yet she can and will bite a hapless human, but since she has no venom, she too is harmless.  We have read that the male Dobsonfly uses his pincers in the mating process, and we eagerly long for proof of this in a photograph.