very strange pincher beetle that flies!
Location: front porch in Missouri
June 18, 2011 11:27 am
Dear Bugman,
We found this strange and unusual bug on my front porch. Its about a good 3 to 4 inches. Long pinchers and has wings. We are having trouble to identify this strange bug. Can you help?
Signature: Lindsey
Male Dobsonfly
Hi Lindsey,
Because of its large size and exaggerated mandibles, the male Dobsonfly is probably responsible for uncountable nightmares, though he is perfectly harmless. The females and aptly named larval Hellgrammites might also keep folks awake at night, and though females and larvae may bite, they are not considered dangerous.
¶ Posted 18 June 2011 § ‡ ° Molting Creature Haunting My Dreams
Location: Upstate New York
June 17, 2011 9:48 pm
This molting insect was found in my garden (June 16) buried in the soil. I accidentally unearthed it, and I must say that it totally freaked me out! It literally haunted my dream that night. Unfortunately, although I tried to cover it back up, when I revisited it the next day, it had died. I’m just curious about what it could be? It looks like a dragonfly nymph to me, but it was definitely in the dirt. Not sure if this is a good enough picture for identification, but I would rest more easily knowing that it was not actually the creature from the Alien movies!
Signature: Molly
What's That Bug??? Dobsonfly maybe
Hi Molly,
We really wish you had more detail in your photo. We seem to be getting more requests than usual this morning that we cannot identify. How large is it? The mandibles are the only really discernible feature, indicating that this is not a moth. Sphinx Moths are often found pupating in gardens. It is not a dragonfly either. They undergo incomplete metamorphosis. Though beetles have mandibles, we don’t believe this is a beetle. Our best guess is that perhaps this is a female Dobsonfly. See this photo on BugGuide of a female Dobsonfly.
Thanks for your reply. I wish I’d gotten a better picture of the poor guy (gal?). It was approximately 3 – 3 1/2 inches long – big! And it may not be clear in the picture, but it had double wings. The molted skin had two sets of small (1 1/2 cm?) wings, and the new ones appeared larger. When I found it, it was just under the surface of the soil. Not sure if that helps.
I love your site – thanks for the good work!
Molly
Hi again Molly,
Thanks for the compliment. All that you have added supports our belief that this is a female Dobsonfly.
Hi Daniel,
So, guess what?!? I was doing some more gardening this afternoon and found what looks to be another one of these creatures, but at a less mature stage. I was able to get more photos of it (attached).
Definitely a Dobsonfly?
Molly
Pupa of a Dobsonfly
Hi Molly,
This is definitely the pupa of a Dobsonfly.
2
¶ Posted 18 June 2011 § ‡ ° Tagged: mysteries Unfortunate circumstances in need of creature identification
June 5, 2011 8:49 pm
Dear Bugman,
I found this creature alongside the winooski river in winooski, Vermont a few days ago. I found him out of water but moving very little. I attempted to instigate a fight between this behemoth we dearly call “Petunia” and a wolf spider. To my dismay there was no battle. Petunia retreated to a small pool of water and became more active.
Perplexed by this creature I have adopted Petunia and am attempting to find out what to feed her. It may appear that she eats ants as she destroyed one when introduced to her pool.
However due to her gills, which are on both sides of her below her legs, I am unsure if she is even an insect. Bugman I hope you can solve this mystery as Petunia must be getting hungry by now.
After writing you this letter I have realized I cannot attach images to your website from my iPhone and unfortunately it as all the internet access we have at my residence. If you respond I will send you the picture as an attachment with due haste.
Signature: Jack D
Hellgrammite
Dear Jack,
This is a Hellgrammite, the predatory larva of a Dobsonfly.
unknown bug
Location: Good Hope High School, Cullman, AL
June 1, 2011 9:59 am
I have a picture of a bug that I just found outside of my classroom. Actually there are two of them. No clue what they are. I teach math. Can you tell me what kind of bug this would be? can I send you a picture of it for identification?
Signature: Angela Doss
Dobsonfly
Hi Angela,
The spectacular mandibles identify this Dobsonfly as a male of the species. In one of your photos it appears the Dobsonfly is in a dust bin with some blue thread wrapped around his left saber-like mandible.
Dobsonfly
¶ Posted 01 June 2011 § ‡ ° found this while camping
Location: North eastern PA in woods
May 29, 2011 5:36 pm
Hi, we found this bug at Promised Land State Park in PA. It was a moist morning and our neighbor found it on the cabin porch. He took a stick and was going to move it when it crawled on the stick but the darn thing started to fight with the stick!!
It was about 3-4” long and later when I tried to move it, it backed straight back like an inch worm goes forward.
Can you identify this critter?? thank you very much
Signature: Sue Sacks
Hellgrammite
Dear Sue,
We have no shortage of images and information on Hellgrammites on our website, and we hope you will do additional research using our excellent search engine since that will provide you with some specifics on this fascinating larval form of the Dobsonfly. We love your observation regarding the Hellgrammite defending itself against the stick.
puzzled in Pa?
Location: western Pa
May 22, 2011 10:00 pm
My boyfriend and I were out walking along the shore of the Ligonier Creek in western Pa, we spotted a nice location to sit and talk on a couple of larger rocks. My boyfriend picked up a smaller rock to skip across the creek when we came accross this insect. We both love being outdoors but we never saw a bug like this before. So we picked it up put it in a container and brought it home with us for further analysis. WE ARE STUMPED!! Can you help? We would like to release it back into the wild tomorrow. Thanks alot!
Signature: puzzled in Pa
Hellgrammite
Dear puzzled in Pa,
This is a Hellgrammite, the larval form of a Dobsonfly. If you think this larva is impressive, you should check out some images of adult male Dobsonflies in our archive.
Female Dobson Fly Photoshoot!
Female Dobsonfly
Female Dobson Fly Photoshoot!
Location: Dallas, TX
May 18, 2011 2:27 pm
Thanks to WTB for helping me identify this strange bug. I took her home and placed her on some clear plexiglass for a late night photoshoot with my Nikon DSLR. She was a great model! I hope these photographs help people appreciate the beauty of these really scary looking bugs!
Signature: Jasrun
Female Dobsonfly
Dear Jasrun,
We hope Tyra and company don’t come at us for copyright infringement if we declare your comely female Dobsonfly as America’s New Top Model. She looks great from all angles and she really knows how to work a camera. Additionally, we just posted an image of a Hellgrammite, the larval form of the Dobsonfly. As a postscript, etymologically, Dobsonfly is a compound word.
Female Dobsonfly
Challenge to our Readership: Take a staged insect photograph … or not.
Get a photo of a couple of Dobsonflies, male and female together. If he is grasping her with those saber-like mandibles, it might be proof that the male needs those mandibles for mating purposes, because they sure can’t be used for eating.
¶ Posted 19 May 2011 § ‡ ° Tagged: Top 10 6 legs, large jaws, spikes over a long body
Location: Riverdale NJ (northest US)
May 19, 2011 7:36 am
Dear Bug,
I found this odd looking bug alog some railroad ties out back. He was very agressive (opening jaws) as we managed to catch him. I’ve never seen anything like this and was hoping you can identify his species and if we need be concerned of our son and his friends playing out back. Thanks, Bugfinder
Signature: Paul
Thank you! Forgot to mention he/she is exactly 3 inches log from tip of jaw to end of tail!
Hellgrammite
Hi Paul,
This is a Hellgrammite, the larval form of the Dobsonfly. Despite all of our efforts, we have been unable to trace the origin of the name Hellgrammite, which nonetheless seems a very appropriate name for this unforgettable insect.
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