Giant Dobsonfly?

[flyflicker]

I live near the Susquehanna and had this beast visit me in the garage last night. Biggest darn stonefly i have ever seen.....is this the mythical Dobsonfly? Next question anyone ever attempt a tie on one (have to be a 6/0 hook!)?

I cannot figure out how to upload an image, but the thing was gemmie-sized. At least 4 inches long and the abdomen was as thick as my finger. Almost sparrow sized in flight.

Also any legends or lore about the appearance of one?

Thanks!

 

[Sylvaneous]

"Giant" and Dobsonfly are redundant. I would be hard-pressed to think of another bug in NE USA... a Pine Czar? Hummingbird fly? Giant Water Beetle? that are bigger than a Dobsonfly. They are incredible insects. Closest thing to Alien in this part of the world. Even the 'embryo' can kill you. (Not really).

Syl

 

[Bamboozle]

Nothing more terrifying than having one land on back of your neck at about 1:00 am while wading on the Susquehanna!!

Nothing more cool that watching one saw the wings off of a White Fly IN FLIGHT!!

 

[afishinado]

Pretty scary things when they're flying around you and on you at night. Looks like a hellgrammite with wings.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Dobsonfly&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjipPXBupPOAhXF5yYKHbvtCAoQ_AUICCgB

 

[jifigz]

Oh, the magnificent and truly terrifying dobsonfly. Yes, I live right along the Juniata and every now and then I'll find one. The best is when you're camping on an island and a huge dobsonfly comes dive bombing into your fire right over your shoulder. The funny thing about dobsonflies is that while hellgies are pretty darn common I rarely see their adult counterparts.

 

[troutbert]

A bug as big as a bird!

I've seen them on Pine Creek.

 

[McSneek]

flyflicker wrote:
I cannot figure out how to upload an image, but the thing was gemmie-sized. At least 4 inches long

Gemmies don't get that big.

 

[bdfish]

We always called them flying hellgrammites. I didn't know they were a different bug altogether. Is there a difference?

 

[PocketWater]

Dobson Flies are what hellgrammites become. The hellgrammite is the nymph.

 

[bdfish]

OK. That's what I thought. Thanks for clearing that up, got a little confused with the posts.

 

[Hook_Jaw]

I've seen them on penns crossing the tressel with my headlamp on late at night

 

[SBecker]

Get them on the Lehigh often. I play baseball with them while floating. Smack them with my paddle. God damn pterodactyls.

 

[flyflicker]

Thanks guys. I grew up on the Breeches and never saw anything even close to the size. I just moved back to PA after 6 years down south and have been dabbling with smallmouth since it has been so hot up here this summer. I had a great day back in my old stomping grounds of the Breeches back in mid May (small wild browns have really taken off!).

Besides my first dobsonfly / devilspawn / dinosaur encounter, I was really curious if there were any legends or folklore about them and the appearance of one.

I do remember as a kid having a hellgrammite draw blood on me in Shermans Creek, but never saw one "emerged/winged".

 

[flyflicker]

If you were lucky enough to have a grandfather that took you fishing, what did he call them?

I am a history/nostalgia buff and am curious what the old timers called them....certainly not Dobsonflys

 

[krayfish2]

I was floating last summer near Ft Hunter. We had headlamps on and the guy with me was going crazy about the amount of bats buzzing his face. I didn't say a word until we had the boat on the trailer and the shined the light on the interior. 3 dobsonfly adults were crawling around. "WTF?" was their response. Lol. We hit what call a swarm. It was the most dobsonfly adults I've ever seen airborne at once. We could have netted 100 of them out of the air .....if so inclined.

 

[jifigz]

krayfish2 wrote:
I was floating last summer near Ft Hunter. We had headlamps on and the guy with me was going crazy about the amount of bats buzzing his face. I didn't say a word until we had the boat on the trailer and the shined the light on the interior. 3 dobsonfly adults were crawling around. "WTF?" was their response. Lol. We hit what call a swarm. It was the most dobsonfly adults I've ever seen airborne at once. We could have netted 100 of them out of the air .....if so inclined.

We've been mobbed by them before too at night on my buddy's jet boat. It does get a little scary and gross when there are many of them.

 

[albatross]

Link to a prior post on the Dobsonfly

 

[SteveG]

Legend has it that if you throw one at your friend, and it takes flight and lands on a drunk girl's face, all except the girl will be blessed with laughter.

 

[flyflicker]

Thanks albatross. That is exactly what I saw! The "choot 'em" comment almost made me spit coffee out my nose!!

 

[FarmerDave]

flyflicker wrote:
If you were lucky enough to have a grandfather that took you fishing, what did he call them?

I am a history/nostalgia buff and am curious what the old timers called them....certainly not Dobsonflys

I'm old enough to be a grandfather, and we called them Dobson fly. Some erroneously called them hellgrammite, but that is the larval stage.

Story of the first Dobson Fly I ever say.

I was in my teens, and I was changing the oil on a Jeep pickup. It had high enough ground clearance that I could simply crawl under (then). I had just removed the drain plug when I turned to the side and... There, just inches from my face was a large male Dobson fly facing right towards me.

I have not bench pressed a Jeep since that day.