The Hellgrammite: You Won't Believe this Strange Insect Exists! 

#insect #creepy #nightmare
Life in a flowing river can be tough, especially without being a strong swimmer like trout. Rivers, though, are home to a great diversity of macroinvertebrates; arthropods that can be easily seen with the naked eye if you look for them. Most are rather strange looking, and some have truly nightmarish features. Few though are as creepy as the larvae of megalopterans, known as hellgrammites.
The Helgramites most noticeable feature upon inspection however are the fearsome mandibles, the mandibles of a carnivore. They feed on a variety of small aquatic invertebrates, which they snatch up with these powerful jaws. When confronted by a predator or another hellgramite they can use them for defense. Despite their monstrous appearance, helgramites are rather delicate creatures that require prisine, well oxygenated water. They are generally intolerant of pollution, and so their presence or absence can indicate the health of a river or stream. It takes years for hellgrammites to grow to the size of these individuals, and this long maturation makes them particularly vulnerable to pollution or even over collection.
Megaloptera are fascinating because they are among the most basal lineage of holometabolous insects, that being they go through a distinctive larval, pupal, and adult stage, but are not as derived as more famous examples of insects like this. When a hellgrammite has grown enough and is ready to mature it leaves the water and goes into a non-feeding pupal stage in the moist soil under a rock or log. Unlike the chrysalis of a butterfly however, this pupa retains the legs and so are motile. Eventually, the adult insect is ready to emerge. Known commonly as a dobsonfly, they are very large impressive flying insects.
Sources
Hoell, H. V.; Doyen, J. T. & Purcell, A. H. (1998). Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 441-443. ISBN 0-19-510033-6.
Chestnut;, C. (2013, December 26). Creature Feature: Hellgrammites, not the prettiest creatures in Southwest Florida. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from www.news-press...
Hall, D. W. (2007, July). Eastern Dobsonfly. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from entnemdept.ufl....
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