Chris called us all outside to have a look at something last night. On Aria's soccer shoe looked like a big piece of bark at first, with a closer glance we could make out some wings, large antenna and a very long body. Chris is not a huge insect fan, although he has come a very long way, so we were all thrilled that he shared it with us. It was about 4 inches long and about 5 inches wide when its wings were opened. I put it in one of our bug holders so that we could have it on hand to identify. After looking in our trusty bug books we came to the conclusion it was a dobson fly.
We learnt that they are actually quite common, although this is the first time in my 34 years ever seeing one (how does that happen?). When they are adults they don't actually eat anything, they spend their time mating and laying approx. 2000 eggs. While it was in our bug carrier it left small sand grain sized green balls which we are guessing are eggs. When it is in larva stage it is called a hellgrammite. They stay in this stage for up to three years, living in the bottom of river beds. They are commonly used as trout bait, and can have a painful bite. We shared this dobson fly with some friends we saw to day and released it together. Elias thought it was amusing to try and get it close to the mums faces! I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful insects out there that I know nothing about, the search and identification is almost as exciting as the find.
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