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399:. There may be a mass emergence of hellgrammites within a few days of each other. Each one digs a hole in moist soil and prepares a small, smooth walled chamber, and after a prepupal stage of a few days, sheds their skin and pupates. In some areas the adults emerge in seven to fourteen days but in other areas they overwinter as pupae. On emerging, they dig their way to the surface. They are not thought to feed as adults but spend their time in dense vegetation near streams. They are most active at night and are attracted by lights. They mate and lay their eggs, usually dying within a week.
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under stones, catching and eating soft-bodied invertebrates. They grow slowly, shedding their skins ten to twelve times and reaching a length of up to ninety millimeters. The larger hellgrammites are fearsome predators with well-developed jaws. After one to three years and when ready to pupate, they emerge from the water and travel up to fifteen metres looking for a suitable location under a rock, log or
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Dobsonfly eggs are usually laid close to the water's edge on a rock or overhanging foliage and hatch at night one to two weeks later. The newly emerged larvae fall or crawl into the stream and make their way to a fast-flowing section with a stony bottom. They are called hellgrammites and they hide
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The adult dobsonfly is a large insect up to 140 millimetres long with a wingspan of up to 125 millimetres. The female has short powerful mandibles of a similar size to those of the larva while the mandibles of the male are sickle-shaped and up to 40 millimetres long, half as long as the body. The
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are grey and cylindrical, about 1.4 millimetres long and 0.5 millimetres wide. They are laid in groups of about 1,000, stacked in three layers. The pile of eggs is protected by a clear fluid which dries white and is applied by the female with the tip of her abdomen. The egg mass is said to look
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use the word "hellgrammite" for the aquatic larvae they used as bait, but the origin of this term is also unknown. These common names are still widely used for this and other species of corydalids, and essentially all that is known is that the earliest recorded uses appear to originate in the
303:), where there were other archaic regional names and variants such as "helgamite", "hojack", "go-devil", and "grampus" (or "crampuss"), all with no definitive source or etymology. The latter name, "grampus", was used in the same region for a large aquatic salamander, the
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allowing them to breathe on land as well as in the water. At the tip of the abdomen there are two prolegs, each with a dorsal filament and a pair of terminal hooks which enables the larva to anchor itself in fast-flowing water. The
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antennae are long and segmented and the greyish translucent, many veined wings are often mottled with white dots. When at rest the wings are folded flat over the insect's back and extend beyond the abdomen.
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are orange in colour with dark patches on the upper side of the abdomen and are covered with minute bristles. The developing limbs, wings and antennae project outside the pupal covering.
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The eastern dobsonfly is found in most of eastern North
America. It is usually found near the swift flowing, unpolluted streams in which its larvae develop.
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Baker, J. R. and H. H. Neunzig. 1968. The egg masses, eggs and first-instar larvae of the eastern North
American Corydalidae.
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has three pairs of legs and each segment is covered by a tough, dark-coloured dorsal plate. The first eight
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Aquatic
Entomology: The Fisherman's and Ecologist's Illustrated Guide to Insects and Their Relatives
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family. It is found in eastern North
America in regions with fast-flowing streams where its
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Neunzig, H. H. and J. R. Baker. Order
Megaloptera. 1991. In: Stehr, F. W., editor.
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Barclay, A., et al. 2005. Tracheal gills of the dobsonfly larvae, or hellgrammite
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588:. The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company. Blacksburg, Virginia. 442 pp.
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The larvae are light brown with a covering of tiny dark brown microspines. The
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Comstock, John Henry (1897). Insect Life. Cornell
University Library. Online.
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segments have lateral tactile filaments and the first seven have tracheal
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558:. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc. Portola Valley, California. 448 pp.
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in the streams in which they live. They are used by anglers as bait.
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Purdue
Agriculture News Columns. Purdue Extension. August 8, 2013.
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used the term in reference to this species in his 1897 book
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A Guide to Common
Freshwater Invertebrates of North America
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Mangan, B. P. 1994. Pupation ecology of the dobsonfly
465:Dictionary of American Regional English: "grampus"
282:, but did not explain it. He also mentioned that
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571:(Corydalidae: Megaloptera) along a large river.
274:The origin of the word "dobsonfly" is unclear.
477:Annals of the Entomological Society of America
554:McCafferty, W. P. and A. V. Provonsha. 1983.
373:Eastern Dobsonfly (Corydalus cornutus) female
507:Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society
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287:southern Appalachian region of the US (
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505:L. (Megaloptera: Corydalidae).
346:in tufts. The larvae also have
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607:Fairfax County Public Schools.
531:"Field Guide to Texas Insects"
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320:rather like a bird dropping.
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573:Journal of Freshwater Ecology
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247:develop. These are known as
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846:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
236:, is a large insect in the
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841:Insects described in 1758
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450:Dobsonflies Look Vicious.
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46:Scientific classification
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851:Insects of North America
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330:larva, museum specimen
251:and are among the top
40:Mounted male specimen
584:Voshell, J. R. 2002.
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276:John Henry Comstock
628:Corydalus cornutus
603:2010-09-25 at the
598:Eastern Dobsonfly.
569:Corydalus cornutus
503:Corydalus cornutus
429:Featured Creatures
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328:Corydalus cornutus
233:Corydalus cornutus
155:Corydalus cornutus
25:Corydalus cornutus
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808:Open Tree of Life
620:Taxon identifiers
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16:Species of insect
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533:. Archived from
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490:Immature Insects
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137:C. cornutus
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201:C. crassicornis
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249:hellgrammites
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210:C. inamabilis
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539:. Retrieved
535:the original
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479:61: 1181-87.
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270:Common names
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262:Distribution
253:invertebrate
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836:Corydalidae
769:NatureServe
730:iNaturalist
509:78: 181-85.
448:Turpin, T.
397:leaf litter
357:sclerotised
311:Description
280:Insect Life
238:Corydalidae
192:C. cornutus
187:Hagen, 1861
183:C. cognatus
113:Corydalidae
103:Megaloptera
830:Categories
541:2011-01-05
403:References
382:Life cycle
305:hellbender
83:Arthropoda
575:9: 57-62.
353:mandibles
348:spiracles
340:abdominal
293:Tennessee
256:predators
227:dobsonfly
131:Species:
124:Corydalus
69:Kingdom:
63:Eukaryota
774:2.832984
748:10661633
665:BugGuide
643:Q1893881
637:Wikidata
601:Archived
519:BugGuide
297:Virginia
289:Kentucky
225:eastern
174:Synonyms
162:Linnaeus
109:Family:
79:Phylum:
73:Animalia
59:Domain:
722:1729944
284:anglers
242:aquatic
119:Genus:
99:Order:
93:Insecta
89:Class:
813:654841
800:199344
787:559164
761:115034
735:126712
709:CDLSCO
696:608664
657:102741
336:thorax
245:larvae
743:IRMNG
390:Larva
364:pupae
344:gills
782:NCBI
756:ITIS
717:GBIF
704:EPPO
683:YPR7
670:4873
652:BOLD
362:The
355:are
317:eggs
315:The
223:The
166:1758
691:EoL
678:CoL
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457:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
