(06/29/2005) What type of bug is this?
Hi. I was wondering if you could help identify these bugs for me. I live in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania, about 45 miles west of Scranton. Based on the difference in body sizes and how the pinchers look I'm guessing that they're most likey a male and a female. The one with the long crossed pinchers is about four inches long (from the end of the wings to the end of the pinchers), with two inch antennae and one inch pinchers. The one with the short pinchers is about three inches long, with one inch antannae and maybe 1/4 inch pinchers. They're both very docile and didn't try to fly away when I had them in the tupperware with the lid off.
Thanks!
Ben



Hi Ben,
We have been getting plenty of Dobsonfly photos lately and when they are in season, we always try to keep a photo on our homepage. We currently have several that you would have seen had you scrolled down a bit. Your photo is exquisite and will have a permanent spot at the top of our Dobsonfly page. Your are correct in that they are male and femaLe of the same species and the male has the long mandibles.

Female Dobsonfly
(11/14/2006) Please help us identify
Attached are three pictures of an insect me and a buddy saw while on a mountain biking trip in Northeast Georgia (Helen). We have no clue and have never seen something like this before. Can you please help us identify. Very much appreciate.
Jonathan McLandrich



Hi Jonathan,
This is a female Dobsonfly. The larvae are prized bait for fishermen and are called Hellgramites. The adults are short lived and do not feed. We get most of our identification requests from May through July, so your specimen is either very early or very late.

Thank you. The pictures are from late July so it fits within your given time frame. Thanks again.
Jonathan McLandrich

Male Dobsonfly
(10/12/2006) Supai Canyon, AZ bug
Hi,
We came across a number of these bugs in Supai Canyon, Arizona. They came out every night at dusk, and would stay fluttering on the same tree branch (or hidden inside of our drying pants) all night, then fly away sometime in the morning. They were about five inches long, and among the most terrifying insects I've ever seen. We only saw them in a particular spot near the river. They're similar to some of the antilions on your site, but I couldn't find it specifically. Thought you might like the photos, anyway (got one in flight!)
Peter



Hi Peter,
Despite his frightening appearance, this male Dobsonfly is harmless.

Male Dobsonfly
(09/24/2006) Bug Identification help
I was directed to your website from a friend. I was wondering if you could help identify the bug in the photo attached? We found it while hiking in Shades State Park in Southern Indiana last summer. Thank you!
Julie



Hi Julie,
We get most Dobsonfly queries during June and July and we try to keep a photo of one on our homepage all summer. This is a male, distinguishable because of the shape of his mandibles.

Summer Fishfly
(09/14/2006) cicada, moth, dragonfly cross?
Hi my name is jesse dovick and I live in Welland, Ontario, Canada. I was in my friends shed when this thing flew in. I thought it was a moth but then noticed it had dragonfly like wings with no powder. also it has 2 wicked fangs and 6 other mandible type things. I coaxed it to ride on my finger to my house so i could photograph it. It has cicada like patterns on it. I'm quite curious to find out what this bug is. see enclosed pics
jesse dovick



Hi Jesse,
This is a Summer Fishfly, Chauliodes pectinicornis. It can be distinguished from its larger and more impressive cousin, the Dobsonfly, by the combed antennae.

Male Dobsonfly
(08/27/2006) Bug Encounter
Here's one for you! Strange bug if you ask me. Close encounter of the 4" kind. This guy flew into me by accident while I was walking into th> door of my place of employment. This guy is 4 inches long with the front pinchers taking 1 inch alone! Talk about a large bug! Can you identify? I'm from Round Rock, Texas, but this guy ran into me in Austin, Texas, Southeast area to be exact. Thank you,
Mike



Hi Mike,
Because of their large size, prehistoric appearance, and large mandibles, we get numerous requests to identify Dobsonflies. Your specimen is a male, identified because of the shape of the pinchers.

Fishfly
(08/23/2006) night flying insect
Hi,
This is a night flying insect i see every year at this time . i love to watch them fly around my porch at night. There wings are like fairies in flight . I call them the fairy bug . There so cool. can you please tell me what it is? thank you so much...
celine m devlin



Hi Celine,
This is a Fishfly in the genus Chauliodes. It is in the same family as Dobsonflies. Fishflies are often attractred to lights at night and are found near bodies of water.

Male Dobsonfly
(08/23/2006) Can you identify this insect?
Hi bugman,
I'm trying to identify this very large bug that I spotted this morning. It is about 3 1/2" to 4" long and the picture was taking in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I lived in the area for over 50 years and don't recall seeing anything like it before. I tried searching the web and came across your site and thought you might be able t help. When touched it reared its head up and opened what look like pincers but did not take flight. Regards,
Glenn



Hi Glenn,
This is a male Dobsonfly. It was our featured Bug of the Month for June because we get many more identification requests earlier in the summer.

Dobsonfly for Dinner!!!
(08/04/2006) this bug... what is it??
Hi, I found this bug outside and it was dead when I found it. It was just so strange I put it in a container and too pics of it. I can't seem to find anything like it on the internet. I put some pictures of it in the email, but here's the facts you might not be able to tell by the pics. It has small eyes, 6 legs that are NOT bent back like a grasshopper... They're all down and pretty short. It has a wierd pincher thing on it's butt... I don't know if that's for mating or what. It has hard tusk like things coming off it's face. I'm not sure if they're antenna but then it has another set of antenna on its head. It has I THINK 2 sets of wings. I could only see 2 wings, but my cousin picked up the bug and said he thought there was another set of wings under the ones we can see. If you can help me PLEASE tell me what this thing is. If you're not the one that can ID it, please pass it on to who can. Thank you very much,
Andrea



Hi Andrea,
It is so daring of you to serve up this male Dobsonfly for Dinner before you even knew what it was and if it was edible. We already have the larval form, known as Hellgrammites, on our edible insect page, and now we will add your toothsome specimen to that page as well.

Male Dobsonfly
(08/03/2006) big bug
Hi I found this bug at work in Southern New Hampshire. Any idea what it is? It's about 4 inches in length.
Jason French



Hi Jason,
Whenever we get a letter like yours in the summer, we take bets on it being a Dobsonfly. In your case, we were correct, a male Dobsonfly.

Female Dobsonfly
(08/03/2006) What the bug???
I found this guy hanging in the shade. Makes me want to reconsider my affinity for bare-footin! I showed the picture to my dad and he thinks it looks like a gi-mungus termite??? He's 2+ inches long and bark colored... The closest thing I found on the interned was a "Devil's Coach Horse? But this guy's got wings? I'm located in Southeast Pennsylvania. Help? What's the bug? Thanks,
Jonzy
Skippack, PA
aka- Home of the industrial sized insects!



Hi Jonzy,
If you think your female Dobsonfly is large and impressive, just check out the jaws on the much larger male Dobsonfly we just posted to our site.

Dobsonfly visits Gerald Ford Museum!!!!
(07/06/2006) identification
Hello,
We just found this bug on our loading dock. Its total length must be at least 3-4 inches. I think some of our interns were sufficiently freaked out upon first glance. Could you tell me what kind of insect this is (see attached image)? I do not think I have ever come across a bug like this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Jamie
James W. Draper
Registrar
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
Grand Rapids, MI



Hi Jamie,
This is a male Dobsonfly. He is harmless. We had two photos on our homepage at the time you wrote in, including the Bug of the Month for June. We can't imagine how you missed identifying the Dobsonfly yourself.

Male Dobsonfly
(07/02/2006) Unknown critter
We recently found this attached to a wall outside our apt in Pennsylvania. It is appx 5 inches long, pinchers or what appear to be pinchers are about an inch long, Antenna are about 2 inches long and it has 6 legs. Could you possibly tell me what this bug is and where it is usually found?
Thank you
Mike



Hi Mike,
This is a male Dobsonfly. The Dobsonfly was featured at the top of our homepage as the Bug of the Month for June. Now readere will have to scroll down to find it. We always try to keep seasonal sitings posted on our homepage. More information and images can be found on our Dobsonfly page. Just click the link on the left column of the www.whatsthatbug.com homepage.

Male Dobsonfly
(06/25/2006) really nice dodsonfly photo
Great page ! Here is a nice pic of a Dobsonfly I took in Cincinnati Ohio on 6/25/2006. He is missing a feeler. Pic is large but shows great detail.



Thanks for sending in your photo of a male Dobsonfly.

Female Dobsonfly
(06/26/2006) what is this bug?
Hi, I found this bug outside my apartment in Athol, Massachusetts. I've never seen anything like it! What is it?
Melissa Paige



Hi Melissa,
Why, it's our featured Bug of the Month, a Dobsonfly. Your specimen is a female.

Fishfly
(06/23/2006) Fish fly?
Dear Bugman,
From the pictures in you site I believe this is a Fish Fly. I found it in my living room watching the soccer game. Since it seemed very comfortable and was not moving much I decided to take the time to take some close-ups. Found in Lexington, MA
Regards,
Jaime



Hi There Jaime,
Dobsonflies and Fishflies both belong to the order Megaloptera along with Alderflies. Further classification puts the Dobsonflies and Fishflies in the Family Corydalidae and Fishflies are in the genus Chauliodes. This is a Fishfly

Bug of the Month: June 2006
Male Dobsonfly
(06/14/2006) Dobson fly
Based on other photos on you site I believe this is a photo of a Dobson fly. Am I correct? This Insect was photographed near the Hiawasse river in Murphy NC.
Thanks.
Richard



Hi Richard,
Yes, this is a male Dobsonfly. Despite those formidible looking jaws, he is harmless. Now that summer is arriving, we expect to get many queries targeting the Dobsonfly. Fishermen use the equally fearsome appearing larvae, known as Hellgrammites, as bait. Your photo is marvelous, and we have decided to feature it near the top of our webpage for the entire month.

Male Dobsonfly
(06/10/2006) What in the world is this thing??
My mom and I were camping in central Texas. The camp isn't finished yet, so although they have a shower house, there isn't a roof. The lights were on so of course there were a multitude of books. When I opened the door, I saw this BUG with the biggest pinchers I've ever seen. The bug itself has a three section body approx 3 inches long, lacey wings and pinchers approx an inch long. He took one look at me and raised his head and started clacking his pinchers together. I ran!! I did go back and turned off the lights, setting my lantern by the door away from the shower so all the bugs would go to the light. After showering, I opened the shower curtain and there he was waiting on me, raising his head and clacking his pinchers again. I'd like to know what I'm running from.
Thanks
Nora



Hi Nora,
That male Dobsonfly won't hurt you. The females with much smaller mandibles can nip painfully. We should be getting many more Dobsonfly images in the coming months, but yours is on the advanced guard.

Fishfly
(05/21/2006) Female Dobsonfly?
What an awesome website you have! We live in Des Moines, Iowa, less than 1 mile from the Des Moines River. Today we were out working in the yard and when I went to sit in my lawn chair, I discovered this creature had landed on it! We did a quick catch-and-release so we could get a good photo, and I thought you might like the shot of her from the front. We're pretty sure... after Googling the string, bug wings pinchers, and finding your site... that it's a female dobsonfly. Can you confirm? I have to say it's probably the ugliest thing I've ever seen... but, fascinating nonetheless! Thanks for a fun and informative site!
Janet Green, Des Moines Iowa



Hi Janet,
We expect to be getting plenty of photos of Dobsonflies in the coming months. Eric Eaton has this to say about this specimen: "The female dobsonfly is likely a different kind of Fish Fly. Please see bugguide for the alternatives (Chauliodes sp??)."

Female Dobsonfly
(05/04/2006) what is this?
I would like to find out what this is. I live outside of Austin, west, and this thing showed up on my shed about 3 or 4 days ago.
Thanks,
tim



Hi Tim,
Your somewhat blurry photo marks what we expect to be the beginning of a swarm of queries regarding the Dobsonfly. Your specimen is a female.

Female Dobsonfly
(02/07/2006) creepy thing
what in the world is this? I found it and many others attached to some cattle that were being moved to a feed lot in KS. About 4 inches long, mean and smelled like rotten flesh. So stong in fact it was gagable to sniff them.
Thanks,
Mark
Oklahoma City



Hi Mark,
We are usually innundated with requests to identify Dobsonflies from May through July. Your specimen is early. She is a female. We have never heard about the offensive smell you describe. Are you sure it wasn't the cows?

Male Dobsonfly from Panama
(12/19/2005) I looked in the list. Still no clue. What's this bug?
Hello,
My mother found this bug on her porch in Panama. We both are curious as to what kind of bug this is. It's about 4 to 5 inches long according to her.
Regards,
Michael Steward
I think I found it after all. Is this a Dobson Fly?



Hi Michael,
Your are exactly correct. This is a male Dobsonfly.

Female Dobsonfly
(09/03/2005) Dobsonfly picture
Dear "What's That Bug",
Some friends of mine and I were amazed and yet very scared of this   huge bug attached to our dorm-room side door.  We attend Bible   college, are from ages 18-24, and yet we're very freaked out by this   thing that looked like it could eat our soul.  It was definitely   dying, but still... We took pictures and went around online looking   for it and found your site (and we now assume it's a Dobsonfly).    Does this thing bite?  Also... did Japan use this bug as a basis for   Mothra? Thanks for making our search quick and easy,
~Scared JBC Students
P.S. Wow! God has creativity!



Dear Scared Students,
Evolution and Natural Selection truly are wondrous. The Dobsonfly does not eat as an adult. The male has formidible pincher jaws used in mating and the female has more useful jaws for biting and she will bite for defense. It is very necessary for her to be able to protect herself before she lays her eggs. We are not really sure what the actual inspiration for Mothra was, but we assume it was a Saturnid Moth.

Fishfly
(08/09/2005) Bug
I was wondering if you could help me identify this flying bug..thanks
Jeff Zuidema



Hi Jeff,
This is a Fishfly which is closely related to Dobsonflies. Fishflies are smaller and have antennae feathered on one side.

Dobsonfly identified by WTB?
(08/02/2005) Dobson fly
Hi,
Just found your super website and lo and behold - there it was - the gigantic insect I've been trying to give a name to!   It was a Dobson Fly.  Gave us a real shock when my granddaughter brought a dead one over in a large pickle jar that her neighbor found on her back porch.  It measured 6 inches from wing ends to tip of pincers!  We photographed it with our digital camera and have been trying to identify it ever since.  Seems it pinched a lady in the neighborhood.  It's funny that I lived in this area for 60 years and never saw one before. Enclosed is our pic. Keep up the good work!
Barbara Erney
Harrisburg, PA



Hi Barbara,
Happy we could be helpful.

Male Dobsonfly
(07/28/2005) Interesting Bug
I'm assuming this is the male, given the extra ornateness; I got a picture of the presumed female, but unfortunately it's very poor quality and she's barely visible. I saw this fellow in a park nearby. He was crawling around, and headed toward me; I moved several times and he tracked me each time. I think he was just looking for something climb on - the female showed up a few minutes later, and he climbed up on the post that he's next to in this picture, and arched his back and spread his wings, just holding the pose. He's pretty good size - I'd say 5-6 inches, stem to stern. He had a couple of pincer-like appendages on his tail, of a fleshy material, similar to what's on his head, but shorter. Unfortunately they're folded under him in this picture. I have never seen anything like this. Any idea what it is?
Alan Little



Hi Alan,
Nice photo of a Male Dobsonfly. We were getting several letters a day in May and June and not so many in July regarding this fascinating insect.

Female Dobsonfly
(07/25/2005) Dear Bugman:
Is the attached creepy bug a female dobson fly?   It measures approx 4-5 inches from pincher to bottom of wings.  We found in on our window screen early in the morning in early July.  It appears to avoid daylight, and is rather docile.  We live near Harrisburg, PA , approximately 2 miles from the large Susquehanna River.   Thanks for any information you have. Regards
Joe



Hi Joe,
Beautiful and artful photo of a female Dobsonfly.

Male Dobsonfly
(07/20/2005) Big Pennsylvania Bug
Hi Bug Guy,
This interesting looking guy welcomed me home tonight.  It was just sitting on the front door and appeared pretty docile, not minding the flash of my camera or the tape measure.  The pictures aren't too good but I just couldn't bring myself to get any closer to it. I just moved to Eastern Pennsylvania from New Jersey and had never seen anything like it. Thanks to your fantastic site, I learned that it was a male dobson fly, right?  Also, thanks to your site, I no longer feel the need to pack up and move back to Jersey! Great site!  I suspect I'll be checking back here often!
Thanks!
Corinne



Hi Corinne,
We are so happy the site was helpful and want to thank you for actually doing the research on it. Your photo is pretty great.

Female Dobsonfly: Cooled down for her closeups!!!
(07/12/2005) Our First Dobsons Fly !!!
Hello WTB,
My wife and I came home to this strange creature last evening resting on the inside of our garage door. We live in north central Iowa about 30 minutes south of the Minnesota border. Never seen such a frightening looking bug!!! Had no idea what it was!! We called our local nature center and they tried to convince us that that it was an  Earwig. Seen too many of those to know better and the mandibles were on the wrong end anyway!!! I just wasn't buying that so after a long while browsing the internet and every imaginable entomology sight we could think of we finally stumbled across your terrific web page and soon had the answer we were looking for.    **** DOBSON FLY - Female!!!***** This girl measured 2 3/4" long from the tip of the mandibles to the end of the wings. The wing span was almost 4" when open. She had quite an attitude and would put on an amazing display of courage if you got to close. Sent along some digital photos for you. One of our local university entomology web sights described how to refrigerate the specimen for about an hour making very sure not to freeze her. This worked amazingly well to slow this fiery beast down so we could get some close-ups. The photos were done quickly and then we took her outside and rested her in a bush outside our living room window. She warmed quickly in the 80+ degree morning sun and was back to her marauding self in a matter of seconds. When last seen she was working her way deep into the center of the bush and when we checked this evening she was gone. Never seen anything like this in my almost 50 years of living in this area!!! What a amazingly horrifying treat she was!!! Your photos of the males are even more ferocious. Thanks for a great informational web sight. We will check back often.  
Mike and Diane K.



Hi Mike and Diane,
What a wonderful letter. The female Dobsonfly is more aggressive than the male despite his formidible looking mandibles. Apparently his jaws serve some mating purpose that we can only cringe at. The female uses her more manageable mandibles not to eat, since adults do not eat, but to defend herself against anything that tries to eat her before she can lay eggs. Thanks for the great photos as well.

Male Dobsonfly
(07/12/2005) Dobsonflie Closeup
Now that I know what it is here are a couple dobsonfly closeups.



Thanks David,
And they are great close-ups of a Male Dobsonfly.

Male Dobsonfly
(07/09/2005) dobson fly
Hi,
We just found your site and found out that what we have is one of these amazing bugs! We let it go, but here is a photo from one that we saw down in northern N.J. last summer! We had no idea what it was until a friend recognized it as a Dobson fly! I had never seen one before in my 46 years! Great website!
Buggy in VT!



Thanks for the photo Buggy.

Male Dobsonfly
(07/08/2005) Dobsonfly
Hello,
What a great site !!!  I had to go downstairs to take a couple of pictures of this little monster that more or less presented itself to me after I dropped a tree with a chainsaw and was walking up the tree removing the branches afterward.  This little monster just about wanted to kick my butt for crashing his world and came at me with tusks drawn!  - LOL  So here are a few shots to do what you'd like with :)   Keep up the great site too !!
Eric



Thanks for the photo Eric. We are happy you both survived your encounter.

Male Canadian Dobsonfly
(07/04/2005) Dobson Fly?
Hi,
We saw this "bug" in Southern Ontario today.  It was roughly 4" long.  From searching the internet, we think it's a Dobson Fly male?



Absolutely correct.

Female Dobsonfly
(07/01/2005) dobson fly
Hello, I'm in Ithaca, NY & I saw a Dobson Fly the other day and was curious about it.  Someone told me to check out your site because you have a lot of info on it...so I did and I think it's very helpful!  I took a piture of the one we found and I'll send it over to you.  Feel free to post it if you'd like!  I used a camera phone, so it's not the best picture, but I think it serves its purpose.  Thanks again for running such a cool site!  And damn, that was the biggest insect I've ever seen!
Andrea



Hi Andrea,
Just wait until you see a male Dobsonfly

Dobsonfly Female
(06/30/2005) Just another Dobsonfly Photo...
I live in Central PA near the Conodoguinet creek and the Susquehanna river. I am glad to see the Dobsonfly  in our area, as they are proof positive that these bodies of water are doing well. I have been seeing a few each summer. Just one question, how far do these insects travel from water after emerging? We live 2-3 miles from both of these bodies of water. Why would they travel so far? I do have a  small drainage stream behind my house. It is only a few inches deep most of the year and has been known to almost completely dry up in long summer droughts. I have seen no signs of aquatic life back there but the drainage field is only at the bottom of my road and I am sure there are things living in there. Could hellgrammites be living in either this small stream or the drainage field? I don’t imagine the water quality is too good in either case due to the fact that they are fed completely by runoff from the local streets and yards. I would think that the levels of miscellaneous chemicals and petroleum products are quite high. I have always been told that hellgrammites need clean flowing water to thrive. Any ideas?
Jason



Hi Jason,
Often the old texts have obsolete information when it comes to names and classification, but they often contain valuable observations. Here is something written by Comstock: "Corydalus.--The only member of this genus in our fauna is Corydalus cornutus. This is a magnificent insect, which has a wing-expanse of from 100 to 130 mm. ...[The male] has remarkable long mandibles. The female resembles the male, except that the mandibles are comparatively short. The larva are called dobsons or hellgrammites by anglers and are used by them for bait, expecially for bass. ... These larvae live under stones in the beds of streams. They are most abundant where the water flows swiftest. They feed upon the naiads of stone-flies and May-flies and on other insects. ... When about two years and eleven months old, the larva leaves the water and makes a cell under a stone or some other object on or near the bank of the stream. This occurs during the early part of the summer; here the larva changes to a pupa In about a month after the larva leaves the water, the adult insect appears. The eggs are then soon laid; these are attached to stones or other objects overhanging the water. They are laid in blotch-like masses, which are chalky white in color and measure from 12mm. to nearly 25 mm. in diameter. A single mass contains from two thousand to three thousand eggs. When the larvae hatch they at once find their way into the water, where they remain until full-grown." So, if you live 2-3 miles from the body of water, my assumption is that they are carried by the wind since they are not particularly strong fliers.

Female Dobsonfly
(06/29/2005) new bug
I found this guy very early this AM about 5:25 on my morning walk. I had to put him in a paper towel to bring him home as he has nasty large pinchers. Look at how he is pinching the paper towel, I'm glad that wasn't my fingers. Anyways, I looked on the web to see what kind of a bug he is and the closest I can find is a dobsonfly, snakefly and a fishfly, but yet he doesn't look quite like them and he seems bigger than they are?  I'm going to send a pix into the "what kind of bug is this" website and see what they say.  I brought him home and put him in the fridg, they get cold and can't move then you can take pix of them. :-) found that out the with moths, they become quite docile when cold.
Judy Schrader
Wildlife Paintings and Nature Art



Hi Judy,
You are a tricky photographer. You don't have a guy, but a gal. You have a female Dobsonfly. We linked to your site so people can see your fabulous artwork.

Male Dobsonfly
(06/27/2005) Strangest bug I have ever seen
I really enjoy your website and discovering what others have discovered until I found my own unique insect.  I have no clue as to what this may be.  I have researched through many sites and have not found an exact match.  Can you help??
Thanks
Rich - Maryland



Hi Rich,
Just this morning we removed a photo of a male Dobsonfly from our homepage since we got a female. They exhibit sexual dimorphism which manifests itself in the jaw structure. The males have pincers like your example, and females have smaller but more robust mandibles. We have an entire Dobsonfly page with many photos.

Female Dobsonfly
(06/26/2005) dobson
Hi there,
I love your site. I took this photo of a dobson fly in Perry County, PA, this past weekend. Use it if you wish or toss it out.
Galen Kreiser



Hi Galen,
Thanks for the compliment, and we love your photo of a female Dobsonfly.

Portrait of a Dobsonfly
(06/19/2005) Hey, I saw this in my mom's garden today and I promptly ran in and   googled on the expression "what kind of bug is that" - and I ended up   at your site and I learned it was a dobsonfly. W00t! Anyway, this fellow was maybe 7" from jaw-tip to wing-tip and the   antenna were 6" across. He was spotted in Stowe, Pennsylvania, which   is in the south eastern part of the state.
Michael



Hi Michael,
I guess we chose our site's name wisely. We have always maintained that everyone wants to know "What's That Bug?" Glad we could be helpful. Your photo is pretty impressive.

Male Dobsonfly
(06/14/2005) Alien Bug!!
I found this bug this morning, on the floor at the injection mold facility where I work, near Charlotte, North Carolina. I'd love to know what it is.
Amy Layton



Hi Amy,
This is our first Dobsonfly photo of the year. People are always amazed seeing them for the first time. Your specimen is a male because of the very large mandibles. Females, though they have smaller mouthparts, are better capable of biting, but both are harmless. We have an entire Dobsonfly page as well as a Hellgrammite page (larval form). Click those links in the alphabatized list on the left of the www.whatsthatbug.com homepage for more photos and information.

Female Dobsonfly
(06/11/2005) What kind of bug is this?
What kind of bug is this? It was 2 inches in length.
Thanks!
Craig Vallelunga



Hi Craig,
What a puny specimen of a Dobsonfly you saw. Yours is a female recognizeable by her smaller mandibles. Check out our Dobsonfly page for some photos of behemoths.

Dobsonfly from El Salvador
(12/18/2004) Strange and fierce bug
We found this on our window sill the other day here in San Salvador. Can you help me identify it? I've never seen anything like it.
Thanks,
Scotty



Hi Scotty,
You have an impressive specimen of a male Dobsonfly. I don't know the exact species as I am only familiar with the species found in the continental U.S. We have gotten reports of male Dobsonflies that reach four inches in length. The males have the scary looking pincher jaws, but the smaller mandibles on the female are more capable of delivering a bite.

Thanks for the information. We do run across all sorts of strange stuff here that we can't identify. Since we live up in a coffee plantation both my wife and I have been bitten by scorpions. Talk about a pop. :) The Dobsonfly that we had was the length of a key. I'll forward you another photo that shows his size. Again, thanks for the help.
Scotty

Male Dobsonfly
(08/05/2004) Photo for your site
Here's a photo of a Dobson Fly that was taken at one of the NYS Thruway
Maintenance Facilities.  Hope you enjoy it!
Dave B.



Thanks so much Dave. We are posting it post haste.

(07/21/2004) Hi,
I hope all is well with you. Last night I saw this big guy hovering around the flood light on the back of my house. I tried to get better pictures, but he moved around pretty fast.
Best Regards,
Ed Cogan



Hi Ed,
Thank you for the photo of a Fishfly, Chauliodes species. These are relatives of Dobsonflies, both belonging to the family Corydalidae. They can be recognized because of their comblike antennae. Larvae are aquatic predators, and it is likely that adults do not feed.

Male Dobsonfly
(07/09/2004) To Whom it May Concern:
My name is Tracy and I live in North Central Illinois.  Attached is a photo of a bug we found in our garage (sorry about the size of the photo, my program wont shrink it).  It is about 5 inches long and I have never seen a bug this big in our area.  Any info would be great! 
Thank you!
Tracy Spires



Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the photo of a male Dobsonfly. Had you scrolled down our homepage, you would have seen several more. We try to keep current sitings on the homepage. You can also click the link in the alphabatized list on the left side of the the homepage to go directly to the Dobsonfly page for even more information.

Another Dobsonfly Drawing?
(07/06/2004) Can you tell me what this bug is?We saw it approx 10 yds from a river,in central Minnesota.Someone said maybe a water scorpian,but the pictures of water scorpians I saw,were different than this.This has a more slender body,light grey in color,and the pinchers were short.I did not notice any sort of tail on this one?Thanks~
Mary Hoeper



Hi Mary,
We believe your fabulous drawing and descriptive text is representative of a Dobsonfly, probably a female.

(07/05/2004) What in the world is this bug?!
Dear Bugman,
Hello!  My family and I were at Timberline yesterday for the July 4th Cookout.  Timberline is a park that has a pond and woods.  While at the pond fishing, I saw a strange bug laying underside-down in the water. It was about 3.75 inches long and I was so bewildered by it that I decided to get a stick and pull it out. The bug was dead, but its 2 front legs stuck to the stick.  I got a look at it's underside and the body looked like a caterpillar without all of the legs. The body was segmented  The wings were about 4 inches long and it had 6(?) legs near the front of the body. I didn't get a good look at the facial features but I did get to see that it had eyes that were very close together, and the eyes were bigger than "Seed Beeds". The wings almost looked like white onion skins, with the same color and kind of translucent.  The wings had veins through them.  I was so angry that I didn't have my digital camera with me, but I drew up a simple sketch of what it looked like and I attached it to the email.  I'm hoping you can tell me anything about it, like what kind of bug it is, or what it is specifically.  I haven't ever seen anything like it.
-+-Very Befuddled-+-



Dear Befuddled,
We believe you saw a Dobsonfly.

Female Dobsonfly
(07/05/2004) Never seen one like this before
Greetings from East Central Indiana
I found this critter on my screen door that is illuminated by a 60 watt porch light last night at about 11pm.  I will admit I am new (3 years, going on 4) to rural Indiana but I have never seen a bug quite like this one.  It's 3 inches long, two antenne, a pair of pinchers on the head that give it a formidable, menacing look.  It's underbody is about an inch and a half long (It wasn't too keen on rolling over for me), and when provoked will raise it's head and pinchers for an even more menacing look.  The wings are somewhat lacey, and when It's in docile, head down mode it looks more like a leaf than a bug....
Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.... Thanks in advance
PS - 3 pictures attached to this mail, jpeg format, taken with Sony digital
Jeff G.



Hi Jeff,
We have an entire page devoted to Dobsonflies. Just click the link in the alphabatized list on the left side of the www.whatsthatbug.com homepage. Your specimen is a female.

(07/01/2004) photo of male dobsonfly
The kids were on a playground and found this monster.  After some work this morning, was able to identify it; thought you might like a photo.  This guy was about 6" long.  I have a photo taken from another angle where you can see that he is clearly longer than the 2x4 on which he was resting.    Love your web site--just found it today--will surely visit again.



Thanks for your photo Deb.

Dead Female Dobsonfly
(06/25/2004) what is this thing??
OK....I've never seen anything like this before, and I work for a pest control company!
It's brownish and black, has four distinct wings (rather large, too), and they're not touching, it's eyes are on either side of it's head, two big big mandibles with sharp serrated like things inbetween them. His body has a head, neck, two body segments, and then a long tail piece. He has 6 legs. I know my nomenclature is totally off, but what do you think? He's about 2.5 inches long. Need a picture?
Thanks so much!
Suzanne



Hi Suzanne,
You most definitely have a dead female Dobsonfly. The photo I sent to you was of a male, which have bigger jaws. Your photos are awesome, and I'm sure they will have our readers screaming.

Thanks so much for ID'ing it. We thought we'd found some sort of prehistoric creature :)  I guess I can toss it now, it's getting kind of stinky :) Thanks
Suzanne

Actually Suzanne, prehistoric is not so far fetched. Dobsonflies are nerve winged insects of the order Neuroptera and are among the most primitive insects that undergo complete metamorphosis.

(06/27/2004) what is this thing??????????
i live in south eastern wisconsin and found this bug on my back step can you tell me what it is doesn't quite look like a secada to me??



Dear Sparky,
You have a female Dobsonfly.

(06/23/2004) Small Blurry Female Dobsonfly
This morning, my son and I found a large 1 1/2 inch light brown winged insect clinging to the stucco on our house.  We live in North St. Paul, MN and we are trying to figure out what type of insect this is.  It has antennea that are maybe a half inch long and a body that is skinny  and segmented with two pincher looking objects on the tail.  The head is point shaped  at the nose, and wide where is has bulging eyes and tiny pinchers in the mouth area.  It threatened me with these pinchers as I tried to get him into a jar so we could view him up close.  He moved rather sluggishly and didn't seem prone to trying to fly.  I wondered if it was a realtive to the dragonfly/ damselfly, but it is not colorful and does not have the same stick like body and legs that jut out from the front.  The legs are placed on the sides of the body.  It kindof looks like a caddis fly larvae, but I couldn't find any pictures that showed wings and I got the impression they are smaller than this.  When we put him on paper to take his picture, it tried to fly and flew up onto the screen door. It appears to have 4 wings.  Can you tell from these pictures and my description what it is.  I'm trying to find another camera to use as the polaroid can't get close up without getting fuzzy. For now here are the photos.



It is difficult to be sure since the photo is so blurry, but I'm guessing a female dobsonfly.

Thank you so much for you help in indentifying this marvelous creature.  We enjoyed her for a few minutes and them released her back to the wall.  She was still hanging around the last I looked.  You do have some amazing photos that folks have shared with you on your site and my son and I enjoyed browsing the different types of bugs.  This is such a great service you provide.  Bravo!!  This is a great site!!!
Anne-Marie

(06/07/2004) female Dobsonfly
I live in southeastern wisconsin and have never seen this kind of bug before can you help?????



Dobsonflies are swarming in many parts of the country right now. Yours is a female.

(05/11/2004) Dobsonfly
I took this picture this morning on May 11, 2004 at 8 am. We had 3 of these bugs on our screen door. I have searched online for an answer and came up with nothing. These bugs were about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, in the picture you can see my 9 year old daughter's fingers to compare size. We live in New Jersey.



Hi Lori, You have a female Dobsonfly. The males have much larger jaws. Adults can get considerably larger than your specimen. We have an entire page devoted to them on the www.whatsthatbug.com website. Just click the dobsonfly link on the left side of the page in the alphabatized list for more information.

Thank you very much for clearing this up for me.  I had no idea what this was.  Thanks for replying so quickly!

Daniel~  By George, I believe you've got it!  Thank you so much!
Jenna  

(7/25/2003)Dear Bugman,
 I was so thrilled to have a coworker identify this Hellgrammite and that I actually found your site to get further information.  I live in the Harrisburg area and was quite amazed by this beautiful but scary thing perched on a patio chair around July 19.  I thought this picture really showed him off well.  He hung out a few hours on the back of the chair (I wasn't about to chase him away!) and snuck away at some point.  He was FOUR inches, and we live at least a mile away from the water (Susquehanna River and also Yellow Breeches creek), so I guess he lost his way. . . Thanks for being there
Pat

Dear Pat,
Wow, thanks for the awesome photo.  We have recently gotten many letters, and most with photos, of Dobsonflies.  We are soon going to update the website with a gallery of them.  I can't wait to post yours.  He is a male, hence the enormous jaws. Thanks again.
Daniel

Yes Judy, the Dobsonfly is harmless.  I'm so glad you found our site helpful.  We have been getting numerous letters about Dobsonflies.  Apparently, there was a dearth of information, or at least difficult to locate information on them before we went online.  Have a nice day and keep appreciating insects for their amazing diversity and beauty.  Might I recommend a video called "Microcosmos" that has amazing footage of insects, though unfortunately, no Dobsonflies. Have a nice day.
Daniel

(7/22/2003)
Needless to say, we were all freaked out here at work when we saw this one. One of my coworkers found your site and we were finally able to name it. I thought this one came over on a boat from some foreign country... Nothin like anything i've seen before.
Thanks for the help!
-Keith

Thanks for the amazing photograph.

(7/16/03)
Thanks for having this "little" guy on you page.  I've seen Hellgramites before, but I never knew what they grew into. I spotted this one on the ash tray outside our office this morning.  I thought you might like to add the picture to your collection.
Thanks!
Bob

Thanks for the great photo Bob.

(7/1/03)
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,
 She is beautiful. He is an adult Dobson Fly, the larvae of which are known as Hellgrammites. The male has even moreformidable 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.