Hi!
I live in Austin, Texas and just found this nasty looking bug outside on my patio, clinging to the wall in the early morning below my porch light.
It has a large set of mean-looking pincers on the front of the head. The forward half of the body is dark, and the rear half is light tan and caterpillar-looking. I had to take the picture through the yogurt jar I captured him in. He is about 3.5 inches long.
I leave most outdoor bugs alone but was concerned that if I ran across him later accidentally, I might get a nasty bite. He aggressively threatened me as I repositioned the jar to get the photo.
If anybody wants him, come and get him!
Thanks!
Patty Pritchett
Dear Patty,
He is beautiful. He is an adult Dobson Fly, the larvae of which are known as Hellgrammites. The male has the formidable jaws which are used during the mating ritual in what humans might consider spousal abuse. They will not harm humans. We have additional information on our site.
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination
Bug Info
- Administrative(126)▼
- Amphibians(17)
- Ants(143)
- Aphids, Scale Insects, Leafhoppers, and Tree Hoppers(547)
- aquarium(59)
- attack of the fungus(54)
- Bees(423)▼
- Beetles(5105)▼
- Antlike Flower Beetles(2)
- Bark Beetles and Bark Gnawing Beetles(18)
- Beetle Larvae(16)
- Bess Beetles(22)
- Blister Beetles(290)
- Carrion Beetles(84)
- Checkered Beetles(31)
- Click Beetles(117)
- Clown Beetles(8)
- Darkling and Ironclad Beetles(107)
- Deathwatch Beetles(3)
- False Blister Beetles(4)
- Feather Horned and Cedar Beetles(21)
- Fire Colored Beetles(5)
- Fireflies and Glowworms(129)
- Flower Beetles and False Blister Beetles(7)
- Fungus Beetles and Pleasing Fungus Beetles(39)
- Ground Beetles(210)▼
- Grubs(89)
- Lady Bug(151)
- Leaf Beetles(292)▼
- Longhorn Beetles(1159)
- Metallic Borer Beetles(158)
- Minute Brown Scavenger Beetles(1)
- Net-Winged Beetles(43)
- Pantry Beetles, Grain Weevils, Spider Beetles, Meal Worms and Carpet Beetles(264)
- Plaster Beetles(1)
- Powder Post Beetles(11)
- Rain Beetles(24)
- Rove Beetles(79)
- Sap Beetles(5)
- Scarab Beetles(694)▼
- Ship-Timber Beetles(8)
- Soft Winged Flower Beetles(10)
- Soldier Beetles(63)
- Stag Beetles(130)
- Tumbling Flower Beetles(7)
- Water Beetles(58)
- Wedge Shaped Beetles(7)
- Weevils(219)
- BIRDS(14)
- Booklice and Barklice(90)
- Bug Art(12)
- Butterflies and Skippers(1029)▼
- Caddisflies(51)
- Caterpillars and Pupa(2691)▼
- butterfly caterpillars(560)▼
- moth caterpillars(2088)▼
- Anthelidae(3)
- Asps and Flannel Moth Caterpillars(39)
- Bagworm(60)
- Carpenter Moth Caterpillars(4)
- Clothes Moth and Meal Moth Caterpillars(22)
- Cutworms and Owlet Caterpillars(175)
- Hornworms(671)
- Inchworms(50)
- Leaf Skeletonizers(10)
- Leafroller Caterpillars(3)
- Processionary Caterpillars(3)
- Prominent Moth Caterpillars(84)
- Silkworms(431)▼
- Snout Moth Caterpillars(14)
- Stinging Slug Caterpillars(157)
- Tent Caterpillars and Kin(73)
- Tussock Moth Caterpillars(130)
- Twirler Moth Caterpillars and Kin(2)
- Woolly Bears(130)
- Centipedes and Millipedes(300)▼
- Cicadas(321)▼
- Cockroaches(190)
- Coelenerates(1)
- Crickets, Camel Crickets and Mole Crickets(313)▼
- Crustaceans(147)▼
- Diseases: Real and Imagined(45)
- Dobsonflies and Fishflies(374)▼
- Dragonflies and Damselflies(347)
- Earwigs(57)
- echinoderms(1)
- Eggs(308)
- Fish(4)
- Fleas(15)
- Flies(1785)▼
- Bathroom Flies(17)
- Bee Flies(107)
- Beetle Flies(1)
- Big Headed Flies(1)
- Black Flies(2)
- Black Scavenger Flies(2)
- blow flies(14)
- Bot Flies(49)
- Cactus Flies(7)
- Crane Fly(170)
- Dance Flies(3)
- Dung Flies(2)
- Flesh Flies(16)
- Flower Loving Flies(1)
- Flutter Flies(1)
- Freeloader Flies(4)
- Frit Flies(3)
- Fruit Flies(38)
- Gnats(28)
- Horse Flies and Deer Flies(102)
- House Flies(7)
- Long Legged Flies(12)
- Louse Flies(32)
- Maggots and Puparia(95)
- March Flies and Lovebugs(39)
- Marsh Flies and Snail Killing Flies(2)
- Midges(25)
- Mosquito(39)
- Mydas Flies(31)
- Picture Winged Flies(24)
- Pyrgotidae(2)
- Robber Flies(401)
- Root Maggot Fly(2)
- Scuttle Flies(2)
- Shore Flies(1)
- Signal Flies(8)
- Small Headed Flies(8)
- Snipe Flies(27)
- Soldier Flies(46)▼
- Stiletto Flies(1)
- Stilt Legged Flies(11)
- Syrphid Flies(166)
- Tachinid Flies(90)
- Thick Headed Flies(8)
- Timber Flies(5)
- Vinegar Flies(2)
- Waved Light Flies(1)
- Xylophagidae(3)
- Forcepflies(1)
- Fossils(1)
- Fuzzy Bottom Gals(12)
- Galls(50)
- Gift Shop(3)
- Grasshoppers(388)▼
- Hump Winged Crickets(14)
- Ikebana(2)
- Katydids(486)
- Louse(46)
- Mayflies(68)
- Mites(145)▼
- Moths(3335)▼
- Bagworm Moths(5)
- Butterfly Moths(5)
- Clearwings(77)
- Diurnal Moths(1)
- Ermine Moths(43)
- Eupterotidae(1)
- Eyetail Moths(3)
- Fairy Moths(6)
- Flannel Moths and Slug Caterpillar Moths(25)
- Geometrid Moths(81)
- Ghost Moths and Wood Moths(51)
- Giant Silk Moths(900)▼
- Hooktips and False Owlet Moths(4)
- Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths(966)
- Lappet Moths(23)
- Leaf Skeletonizer Moths(32)
- Microlepidoptera(11)
- Noctuoids(526)▼
- Pantry Moths, Clothes Moths, Case-Bearers and Meal Moths(64)
- Plume Moths(55)
- Prominent Moths(13)
- Pyralid and Snout Moths(42)
- Sun Moths(1)
- Tortricid Moths(1)
- Tussock Moths(49)
- Urania Moths(14)
- Window Winged Moths(1)
- Mt Washington Blog(6)
- Nabokov(24)
- Nests(152)
- Neuropterans: Lacewings, Antlions, and Owlflies(363)
- Opiliones and Harvestmen(74)
- Orthoptera(6)
- Other(6)
- Pantopods and Sea Spiders(1)
- Photo 7(4)
- Plants(34)▼
- Potato Bugs, Wetas and Parktown Prawns(182)
- Preying Mantis(353)
- Pseudoscorpions(91)
- Recipes(2)
- Reptiles(28)
- Rodents(12)
- Root Maggot Flies(1)
- Scorpionflies(33)
- Scorpions, Whipscorpions and Vinegaroons(165)
- Silverfish, Bristletails and Firebrats(82)
- Snails, Slugs and other Molluscs(45)
- Snakeflies(41)
- Solpugids and Camel Spiders(119)
- Spiders(2079)▼
- Cellar Spiders(20)
- Cobweb Spiders(90)▼
- Communal Spiders(1)
- Crab Spiders(57)
- Crevice Weaver Spider(23)
- Desidae(1)
- False Wolf Spiders(4)
- Flatties(6)
- Funnel Web Spiders(26)
- Green Lynx(54)
- Ground Spiders and Ant Mimics(28)
- Hacklemesh Weavers(8)
- Huntsman Spiders and Giant Crab Spiders(127)
- Jumping Spiders(137)
- Ladybird Spiders(17)
- Longjawed Orbweavers(26)
- Net-Casting Spiders(10)
- Nursery Web Spiders(159)
- Orb Weavers(488)▼
- Recluse Spiders(12)
- Running Crab Spiders(8)
- Sac Spiders(5)
- Scorpion Spiders(8)
- Sheetweb Spiders(4)
- Sow Bug Killers(10)
- Spitting Spiders(3)
- Tarantulas and Trapdoor Spiders(163)▼
- Trechaleidae(3)
- Tube Web Spiders(1)
- Two Tailed Spiders(3)
- Wall Spiders(5)
- Wandering Spiders(13)
- Wolf Spiders(111)
- Springtails!(131)
- Stoneflies and Snowflies(93)
- Termites(83)
- Thrips(28)
- Ticks(59)
- True Bugs(2814)▼
- Assassin Bugs(763)▼
- Bark Bugs(1)
- Bedbugs(108)
- Big Eyed Bugs(1)
- Broad Headed Bugs(15)
- Burrowing Bugs(10)
- Coon Bugs(3)
- Damsel Bugs(3)
- Ebony Bugs(3)
- Flat Bugs(3)
- Lace Bugs(18)
- Leaf Footed Bugs(399)
- Minute Pirate Bugs(2)
- Mirid Plant Bugs(30)
- Plant Bugs(130)▼
- Red Bugs(72)
- Seed Bugs(133)
- Stilt Bugs(4)
- Stink Bugs and Shield Bugs(467)
- Toad Bugs(3)
- Toe Biters and other Aquatic True Bugs(293)
- Unique Headed Bugs(1)
- Water Striders(15)
- Uncategorized(227)
- Velvet Worms(1)
- Walkingsticks(183)
- Wasps and Hornets(1863)▼
- Crabronid Wasps(174)▼
- Cuckoo Wasps(37)
- Gall Wasps(5)
- Hornets and Yellow Jackets(133)
- Horntails, Wood Wasps and Sawflies(306)
- Paper Wasps(102)
- Parasitic Hymenopterans(432)▼
- Potter and Mason Wasps(46)
- Scoliid Wasps(82)
- spider wasps(126)▼
- Thread Waisted Wasps(146)
- Thynnid Wasps(5)
- Tiphiid Wasps(16)
- Velvet Ants(134)
- Webspinners(21)
- Whiteflies(6)
- Worms(66)▼
- Zorapterans(1)
- WTB? Down Under Make My Day calendar 2011 Invasive Exotics snow bugs unnecessary carnage Buggy Life Cycles Goldenrod Meadow 10 Most Beautiful Spiders bug love Gift Shop Milkweed Meadow Buggy Vocabulary Words Unidentified WTB? Mt. Washington Top 10 Bug Humanitarian Award What's on my Woody Plant? countdown 10 000 buggy accessories fanmail Aquatic Bugs The Big 5 Tomato Bugs Gems from our Archives Florida mysteries Household Pests Worst Bug Stories Ever!!! Anastasia Island food chain bug of the month Edible Insects: Tasty Morsels gardening blog Nasty Reader Award
- RSS Feeds