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Post by trehopr1 on Feb 6, 2021 14:41:47 GMT -8
Nearly every summer I catch one or two of these in my area at my moth lights. A river is not very far from my house so its little wonder I find an occasional specimen. The males (like this one) are most certainly "full of attitude" and are very aggressive at the least little bother... With their wings spread like this they are the wing-expanse of a monarch butterfly at least (and sometimes larger) ! Females are equally large as well and also display a fair measure of bad attitude. The difference however, is that the females can truly bite you if they grab hold of a finger or a fold in your skin. I suppose when everything else (larger) seems to want to eat you then no wonder they "don't take kindly to strangers" OR "play well with others". The larvae which are known as "hellgrammites" are popular with fly fisherman (if they can find them). They are of coarse aquatic, active, and equally armed with strong sharp mandibles. It can take several years for the larvae to reach full size.
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Post by Crake on Feb 6, 2021 23:10:06 GMT -8
Hellgrammites are often referred to as "toe biters"—and for good reason. I once made the mistake of handling one without a glove and ended up with a nasty bite.
They also emit a foul odor when bothered, somewhat reminiscent of a fish oil/feces cocktail.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Feb 7, 2021 12:55:19 GMT -8
The biggest trout I ever caught, I used a Hellgrammite. Nasty thing tried to bite me.
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Post by tv on Feb 8, 2021 12:26:07 GMT -8
Those are really nicely presented trehopr1, where were they collected?
According to bugguide, there is only one widespread Corydalus species in the US, with three that show up along the US/Mexico borders. That means that the specimens I have from Kansas/Missouri and South Carolina are probably all Corydalus cornutus. That's pretty incredible, because the male I collected in SC is just massive in comparison to the others. The SC male has 0.5" (1.27cm) wide head with 1.25" (3.2cm) mandible length, while the KS/MO specimens are more like 3/8" (0.95cm) head width and 0.75 (1.91 cm) mandible length. It may be that the areas I collected in KS/MO just don't have very good conditions to grow the big ones.
PS. I would post a picture to compare, but don't have anything set up to host pictures.
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Post by trehopr1 on Feb 8, 2021 23:12:11 GMT -8
Hi tv, thanks for the inquiry about these curious looking creatures.
To the best of my knowledge C. cornutus is indeed the largest and most widespread of any dobsonfly species here. I do not know how much of its range extends into the western states but, in the eastern half of the U.S. its range is considerable.
With these fellows it seems an abundant food supply and perhaps limited competition for food sources will nearly always get you larger examples of both males + females.
I would also mention to keep in mind that perhaps the "cleanliness" of a given river MAY also play a part in generating a larger, healthier stock.
I also have a couple of larger (male) specimens than the one which I pictured; and they are noticeably larger...
Its really kind of a pity that such large and imposing creatures (with an aggressive attitude) such as these really don't live very long as adults. I should think birds are their greatest natural enemy and are keen to them being a large, rich protein source.
I would love to see a full grown well preserved larvae of one of these...
However, that's just not what most collectors are likely to encounter so I doubt anyone will post a photo of one.
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Post by tv on Feb 9, 2021 10:16:08 GMT -8
Do you think that the flow of the stream would have an impact on size? I could see that a slow flowing stream could maybe have less food or oxygen and lead to smaller specimens. The local stream is pretty slow compared to the area where I found the large one in South Carolina.
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Post by trehopr1 on Feb 9, 2021 10:36:54 GMT -8
I had not thought of that. It is indeed a good point and also makes sense.
I would think most likely a "combination" of these factors we have mentioned probably results in a larger / healthier stock of adults.
Nice to know that you have found the topic interesting...
I try to post "occasional" threads about other insects most folks don't give much thought about (even when they see them).
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Post by tv on Feb 9, 2021 13:57:13 GMT -8
I really appreciate your adding this type of content, it's nice to have the non-lep discussions.
I focus on beetles but collect everything when I see it, so I get just as excited when I catch a horntail wasp or bee fly.
I'd love to share more photos of that kind of stuff, but haven't bothered trying to find another image hosting site after the last one tried to start charging $15/month to host my 20 insect photos.
What do you use for your file hosting?
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Feb 10, 2021 5:37:46 GMT -8
Where ever I set my Light Traps in May & June near running water (Creeks & Rivers). I will collect the adult Dobson Fly. Especially in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky.
I also get them in my Light Traps in the head waters of the Cuyahoga River and Grande River in North East Ohio.
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Post by trehopr1 on Feb 10, 2021 10:52:29 GMT -8
Hello tv, I use Imgur.com as my hosting site for photo's.
It is thereby free of cost to Olivier who is the owner of this forum and you can post as many pictures as you desire.
Adam Cotton has many times remarked how one goes about signing onto Imgur. It really is a one time process and after that the method of posting pic's is just repeated....
Delve into Adam's suggestions and very soon you too will be spank'in out pictures for all of us to share !
I look forward to any you can share with us.
P.S. Let me know (for the time being) what your favorite Coleoptera interests are or (other Insecta) and I can cobble up some more articles/threads perhaps about them to discuss.
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Post by Paul K on Feb 10, 2021 11:18:54 GMT -8
I too use Imgur.com, so far no problem.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Feb 10, 2021 12:05:21 GMT -8
Here's what I posted in the technical section at insectnet.proboards.com/thread/4692/picture-attachmentHere's the easy way to post photos, use a free photo hosting website. I recommend imgur.com, and here are instructions how to post photos on the forum once you have joined: After you sign up and log in to the website you will see a green circle top right. Click it for a menu to appear, then click on "images" and you will see a green "add images" button on the right, click that and upload your images there. Next click on the image you want to post here and you will see it on the left with a link menu on the right. Click "Copy" next to the link labelled "BBCode (message boards & forums)", then just paste the link in your post on the forum in the place you want the photo to appear. This way you can post as many photo links as you want inside a single forum post, and also it doesn't cost the forum owner anything in hosting fees (unlike if you upload a photo as an attachment). Adam.
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Post by tv on Feb 11, 2021 9:23:07 GMT -8
Thanks everyone. That looks pretty straightforward. Guess I have a project for this weekend.
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Post by trehopr1 on Feb 12, 2021 0:17:36 GMT -8
Here's yet another picture tv of another one of my male specimens. These are not at all difficult to work with (when fresh) and they are a pretty darned impressive critter to see in one's collection ! Visitors will ALWAYS ask you all about this one once they see it.
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Post by exoticimports on Jun 30, 2021 5:50:12 GMT -8
I've been night lighting and doing field work in the same region for over 30 years. During this period NEVER did I find a nice Corydorus with those impressive jaws- until today. Typically we get fishflies- that is, those that have feathered antennae. In the past few years, medium size dobson flies have been appearing, but never large specimens. In fact, the first larger (cornutus) specimen I took was on the 12' high on the front wall of the local supermarket, in mid-afternoon. Now, never having previously found a large cornutus, I had to have it. Sans net, I stripped off my shirt, knocked it off the wall, grabbed it, and ran back to my vehicle, shirtless. This though was a female. Last night though, a wonder! TWO massive males at the MV! Which is good, because nothing else came. The measurement is metric. Chuck
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