Nymph
Location: Cochise County, Arizona
February 14, 2011 8:15 pm
Dear Bugdude,
A friend took these photos and gave me permission to send them in. She photographed the nymph in a stream in the Chiricahua Mountains, Cochise County, Arizona, it was about 2 – 2 1/2 inches in lenght. I’ve searched and searched the internet and cannot seem to locate a photo to identify this nymph.
Signature: Huh?

Hellgrammite

Dear Huh?,
This appears to be a Hellgrammite, the larva of a Dobsonfly or Fishfly in the family Corydalidae which you may compare to this image on BugGuide.  Most of our images of Hellgrammites are from the Eastern Dobsonfly, Corydalus cornutus, and BugGuide does not report them any further west than Texas, however, BugGuide does report a genus member being sighted in Arizona, and the information page on the genus on BugGuide does list four species, with this information:  “Corydalus texana – SW US west of the Rocky Mountains” and “Corydalus bidenticulatus - Arizona” indicating that this individual may be either of those species.

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Centipede-like bug with pincers?
Location:  Utah
September 2, 2010 1:26 am
I have been searching long and hard for a site where I could ask about a bug I found, so here goes!
Unfortunately I don’t have a picture (but I drew it? haha) of it since I was too frightened to catch it and I didnt have my camera with me at the time.
It was also very dark when I found it and I was in a river… I was swimming around, looking for tadpoles and frogs. And then much to my horror I shined my flashlight upon something that was definitely neither of those.
I can’t remember exactly what it looked like but it had a very long centipede-like body with a lot of legs like one. I think it was white and black (but it was nighttime, and I wasn’t really paying attention to its color for obvious reasons) and it was coming out from under a rock. So it obviously lives in the water. And it had very sharp needle-like pincers that curved in and looked like it could chop your finger off if it got close enough.
I’ve looked everywhere for one. All over the internet, and I can’t seem to find anything that looks even remotely close to it. I really wish I had taken a picture of it! Does something like this exist? Or is it some freak science-experiment gone wrong?
I’m sorry, I wish I had a better explanation of what it looked like (and a better drawing!). The next day I went back hoping to catch it but I didn’t see it anywhere. Of course it only shows up when it isn’t wanted.
Signature:  Maddie

Possibly a Hellgrammite

Hi Maddie,
We were quite certain based on your drawing and your letter that you had an encounter with a Hellgrammite, the aquatic larva of a Dobsonfly, but we began to question that theory when we realized your sighting was in Utah.  The commonly encountered Eastern Dobsonfly does not range to Utah, but there are three other species that occur in western states.  According to BugGuide:
“The only eastern species is Eastern Dobsonfly, Corydalus cornutus. Three other species apparently have very limited distribution in North America:
Corydalus luteus – South Texas
Corydalus texana – SW US west of the Rocky Mountains
Corydalus bidenticulatus – Arizona
Genus is restricted to the New World–other species in Central and South America.”
We were unable to locate an image of a Western Dobsonfly, Corydalus texana, but a web search did lead us to a trout fishing page with a photograph of a Dobsonfly and a nice description.  The God of Insects website also has some information.  We are posting your letter with an image of the Hellgrammite of an Eastern Dobsonfly as we imagine the western counterpart must look very similar.

Hellgrammite

Interestingly, we did notice that one of our earlier postings is from Colorado, which would indicate there is a strong possibility that image is of Corydalus texana.

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Strange bug found off shore of creek.
June 6, 2010
Hi, I found a strange bug today (6/6/10) while fishing and I was wondering if you could help me idetify it. I turned over a rock that was about ten to fifteen feet from a creek and I saw this thing curled up in a little hole in the mud. It was on land not in the water. It almost looked like it had hatched there and grew because there was no real entry or exit from its location. There was a pretty tight seal because of the flatness of the rock. Also it wasnt moving almost like it was hibernating there. I scooped it up in a cup and it kicked around a little but all in all not real movement. It has big legs in the front but a long body so Im not sure how it would move. It has some pretty serious pincers on its mouth. It bit pretty hard onto a stick. I have no idea what t his thing is and neither does anyone I show it too. Any info would help. Thanks
Matthew R. Boyer
Southeastern Pennsylvania

Hellgrammite

Hi Matthew,
Hellgrammite identification requests like yours have been pouring into our offices from around the country, as are images of the adult Dobsonflies the Hellgrammites will eventually metamorphose into.

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Centipede????
June 6, 2010
My daughter ran across this little guy and scared her to death. I told her it was a centipede. But after looking online I am starting to doubt my self. This guy lacks the large antenna all the other centipedes have. And his rear end is a single appendage, compared to most other centipedes with a split tail. Any help IDing this guy would be very appreciated. Sorry about quality took pic with camera phone. Pic taken on Apr 30 2010
Thanks
Aaron
West Virginia

Hellgrammite

Hi Aaron,
The Hellgrammites are crawling out of the woodwork this year!!!  Actually, Hellgrammites do not live in woodwork, but the point we are making is that there is an unusually plentiful number of identification requests coming our way for both the larval form and the adult Dobsonfly.  We believe the Hellgrammite was the inspiration for the creature in the classic horror film, The Tingler starring Vincent Price.

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