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.
¶ Posted 22 January 2010 § ‡ ° What the heck is this thing??
January 20, 2010
Hello a friend of mine who lives in Costa Rica took this photo while seeing a patient. He said it kept tapping the window cause it was trying to get in. He also said he could sense evil from it…
Alex Anico
Costa Rica
Dobsonfly
Hi Alex,
Despite looking diabolical, this male Dobsonfly is perfectly harmless. The female with her smaller mandibles, on the other hand, might deliver a painful pinch if carelessly handled.
¶ Posted 20 January 2010 § ‡ ° 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.
¶ Posted 20 January 2010 § ‡ ° Hellgrammites/Dobsonflies (Please Read)
January 10, 2010
Hellgrammites can live completely submerged in water. They have gills all along there segmented bodies. They live for a few years in their larval stage. Then they come to land to pupate. They stay in their cocoon throughout winter only coming out to mate. They only live for 7 days as Dobsonflies. They mate, lay eggs and then die. During these 7 days the are thought to not eat at all. In there larval stage they are attracted to light because they are nocturnal. Just thought that I would give you a little info. I have been using these as fishing bait for around 15 years now.
SW Virginia, Appalachian Mountains
Thanks, Zelik
Hellgrammite
Hi Zelik,
Thanks for your comment. Recently a writer named Thomas requested permission to reproduce one of our Hellgrammite images for an article he is writing for an Angler’s magazine, and he has promised us that we may reproduce that text once the magazine is published this spring. We are including a couple of Hellgrammite images from the past with your letter since you did not provide one.
Hellgrammites captured for bait
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?
1
¶ Posted 22 December 2009 § ‡ ° what is this?
May 31, 2009
we were camping with our kids and found this under a rock around an old fire pit.. we went to another camp site and found 2 more there also in the fire pit.. It has 6 large legs under it and very strong pinchers. it was about 3 inches in length. we have never seen anything like this before and dont know if it is harmful or not..
cautious campers
in the adirondack region of ny state
Hellgrammite
Dear cautious campers,
This is a spectacular Hellgrammite, the larval form of a Dobsonfly. We are sorry our reply took so long, but today we are randomly selecting from among our unanswered mail.
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.
¶ Posted 07 December 2009 § ‡ ° Moth or ??
August 19, 2009
I found this moth like buy in front of my garage door under where the hallogen light is. Usually I find many lunar moths there but found this today. Approx 3 inches long, narrow moth like bug. Pinchers on the front and antenae above the pinchers.
Do you have any idea what it is? I have searched some moth web sites etc,,,,but cannot find anything similar.
Thanks
Deb
Central Maine USA
Male Dobsonfly
Hi Deb,
Now that you know that this is a male Dobsonfly, you should be able to locate a wealth of online information. Female Dobsonflies have much smaller mandibles. Since we just finished posting some marvelous images of a female Dobsonfly from Peru, we feel compelled to post your photo as well.
¶ Posted 19 August 2009 § ‡ ° 
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