Eastern Dobsonfly, Corydalus cornutus

Eastern Dobsonfly, Corydalus cornutus

These lovely critters are Eastern Dobsonfles, Corydalus cornutus, one female (horizontal bug in photo; short mandibles) and one male (diagonal; long mandibles).  These insects are 4-5 inches in length, impressive in appearance, but harmless.

This year I have sighted them more often than in previous years, and I saw a similar comment on What's that bug? leading me to believe their population has been improving.  In the larval stage, they are aquatic as well as predatory (and, if possible, more creepy looking), and likely owe any resurgence to the same source as the increasing numbers of frogs, eagles, etc.  Though I'm sure the populations of none of these are what they once were, I think there are definite improvements.  I'd like to think people are starting to take responsibility for water quality and habitat preservation, but it may be nothing more than the days of willy-nilly spraying of DDT is now far enough behind, allowing some ecological recovery.  A great review article about dobsonflies on the Univeristy of Florida website mentions that dobsonflies have been suggested as a good indicator for environmental monitoring studies.

The article mentions above also explains many other interesting facts about the species.  They spend 1-3 years as larva, living in clean water, under rocks and such, feeding on other insects.  They then pupate about 3 weeks to reach their adult stage, shown above.  As adults, they live 3-8 days to mate and finish out their life cycle.  Seeing one, therefore is a rare treat, like seeing a luna moth.  I feel exceptionally lucky to have seen this pair together.

Praying Mantis babies!

This post is overdue, I took the photos at the end of May.  They still may be educational.

Look closely!  What you are seeing is newly hatched praying mantises on strawberry plants.  They were about a centimeter long.  There are two in the one below, but the second is blurry.  Sorry about that.

I was able to tell they were newly hatched because there were so many among the plants.  Within a day or two after hatching they begin to disperse throughout the area in search of food.  They grow rapidly and reach adult size by the end of summer.  In this area, around September or so they lay their eggs, which are housed in a foamy-looking papery case, usually attached to a twig.  See below.

Be on the lookout for these in your garden while pruning.  If you find one, leave it in place and prune that section the following summer.  You want these guys in your garden.  Not only do they look awesome, but they are predatory insects, making meals of such undesirable things as grasshoppers and stink bugs when larger, as youngsters of course they must select bugs more appropriate to their size.

Predatory insects you should be kind to:

• Lady Bugs and several other tiny round beetle like critters that eat aphids, mealybugs, etc.  Familiarize yourself especially with what young ladybugs look like - nymphs are very different.
• Praying mantis
• Assassin Bugs or Cog Bugs - do look this one up, they are very creepy looking
• Centipedes and Millipedes - I generally want to mash centipedes, but I have personally witnessed them at the hunt, so I tolerate them.
• Spiders of all kinds!  Seriously, spiders are awesome, and contrary to paranoid beliefs of many they are not out to get you.  Do, however, feel free to mash black widow and brown recluse spiders, but familiarize yourself with how they look to prevent unnecessary deaths.

There are many others, of course, and likely you are aware of some or all of these.  But it bears repeating - these will be of assistance to you.  Encouraging them takes time, and pesticides can kill your friends as well as undesirables.  Also meadow and other 'wild' garden spaces provide the territory for them to establish and thrive.  A "well tended" lawn is essentially a desert.

A visitor

Unidentified Crab Spider

This little lady was found laying in wait on some mounted plants.  Due to her color, she is nearly invisible when she is curled up on the back of a piece of cork.  On the front, she is more visible.  I was unable to figure out what species she is, but due to body type and her habit of sitting down and folding her legs up so that she looks like a wee spot of mud on the cork tells me she is a crab spider.  These are hunting spiders, like jumpers, and don't weave webs.  Crab spiders are also often called flower spiders, as many species are colored to blend in well on flowers, and prefer to hide among petals to wait for a chance to catch bugs.

To see more cool bugs and learn about them, I recommend visiting What's That Bug?

I hope she eats stink bugs.

Pest control: Meet "George"

Meet "George", my new pest control manager. George: Keeping our Cattleyas safe from stink bugs since... yesterday.

Notice the discarded leg on the petal below. George does a good job, but he's a bit sloppy at the table.