Nature Bulletin No. 379-A   April 25, 1970
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
George W. Dunne, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation

****:HELLGRAMMITES, DOODLEBUGS AND STINK FLIES

Many, many kinds of insects are called carnivorous because the adults 
or their young, or both, prey on insects or other animals -- notably the 
Praying Mantis, relatives of the grasshoppers. Such predatory species 
are also scattered among most of the other large groups typified by the 
dragonflies, bugs, beetles, flies, wasps and ants. However, sandwiched 
in between the so-called "lower" and "higher" insects, in most 
textbooks, is a little-known group called the Neuroptera or "nerve-
winged" insects, all of which prey on other insects.

The soft-bodied, clumsily flying adults, with their four large gauzy 
wings crisscrossed by innumerable fine veins, often escape notice 
because they are seldom abundant and are most active at night. Some 
kinds develop in water, others on land, and have such an array of 
queer shapes and habits that it is hard to realize they are closely 
related.

As young fishermen, many of us became acquainted with the 
Hellgrammite -- that ferocious water creature with powerful pincers on 
its head and sharp hooks on the tail -- that we caught for bait by 
turning over rocks in swift creeks. Also called Conniption Bugs, they 
are the larval young of the Dobson Fly. The fearsome adult male, with 
his long crossed jaws, and the short-jawed female, have a 5-inch 
wingspread but are actually harmless. On some rock or tree over-
hanging a stream she lays a whitish blob of eggs which hatch into tiny 
larvae that drop into the water. After three years of feeding on aquatic 
insects, baby fish and other prey, their dark flat tough bodies become 
about 3 inches long. Down each side is a row of fringe-like 
appendages and gill tufts which seem to make them attractive to fish -- 
especially bass and trout. At maturity, the hellgrammite crawls out on 
land where it pupates under a stone or log and hatches into the dobson 
fly. Alderflies and Fishflies, miniature editions of the dobson fly, are 
imitated by anglers in making artificial lures.

Adult Ant Lions, long-winged and slender-bodied, resemble a 
damselfly but fly only at night. The larvae are plump hairy creatures 
with a small head and long curved powerful jaws which, being hollow, 
are used to puncture their prey and suck out the juices. Some kinds 
bury themselves at the surface of sand or powdery soil, with only the 
jaws exposed, waiting days or weeks to seize an unwary ant or other 
insect. One species, often called "the Doodlebug", conceals itself at the 
bottom of a funnel-shaped crater which it digs by backing downward 
and snapping its head upward to toss the material aside. When a 
scouting ant tumbles in, the doodlebug flips a shower of sand so that 
the ant slides down to be grabbed. As boys, we used to tease them with 
a blade of grass and say: "Doodlebug, doodlebug, come out of your 
hole ! " In one to three years the larva reaches the size of a bean and 
spins a silken cocoon, underground, from which the adult ant lion 
emerges.

Most common of the Neuroptera, often coming to lights at night, are 
the delicate little Brown and Green Lacewings. The latter, pale green 
with long hair-like antennae and iridescent golden eyes, are about a 
half-inch long and are sometimes called "Stink Flies" because, if 
handled, they give off a very offensive odor. The female spins slender 
stalks of stiff silk, on plants, and places one egg on the tip of each. The 
larvae are called "Aphis Lions" because they feed voraciously on plant 
lice (aphids) which they stab with their hollow jaws and suck dry.

Such terrible children! No wonder their parents hide in daytime.