Photo shows ‘aggressive’ alien-looking bug found in Columbia. What is it?
The internet can be a treasure trove of knowledge, especially if you need help identifying a horrific specimen found in your home.
Reddit user Datbeckyy found this out when they enlisted the help of internet sleuths in figuring out what exactly had been found in their home.
The horrifying, alien-looking insect was “aggressive” with its fangs toward a friend who helped Datbeckyy capture it, they said in the post.
Luckily, other users were quick to name the bug. One user said it looked like a female Dobsonfly, which are found in eastern North America, according to the Entomology and Nematology Department at the University of Florida.
The Dobsonfly mostly settles near flowing streams to provide a habitat for its offspring. Its eggs are laid in groups that clump together underneath a layer of clear fluid that comes from the abdomen of the adult females. As larvae, they are called hellgrammites and resemble a nightmarish predator at the center of a science fiction movie with spikes all over their bodies.
The hellgrammites and adult Dobsonfly insects can often be used as bait for bass as long as you watch out for the pinchers, according to Reddit users. As full-fledged adults, these insects can grow to be up to 5 inches.
The bugs are not harmful to people or pets, but the females can give a “pretty painful bite if you catch one,” said Bubba Miller, the pest control manager at Modern Exterminating Company Inc., a family-owned company that has operated out of Columbia for 65 years.
“They’re fairly docile,” Miller said. “The males are the ones with the really long mandibles. The mandibles on the male are only used for mating purposes; they cannot bite with them.”
The insects are pretty common, Miller said, and can be found from Canada “all the way down to us” in the Palmetto State. They feed on mosquito larvae and water beetles.
“I’m not saying they’re going to knock out the mosquito population if you have a bunch of them, but they’ll feed on the mosquito larvae,” Miller said.
