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Photo#780754
Got this guy out of a web - what the heck is it?! - Chauliodes pectinicornis

Got this guy out of a web - what the heck is it?! - Chauliodes pectinicornis
Lakewood, Ocean County, New Jersey, USA
June 4, 2013
Size: HUGE - about 2 in length
I was on my balcony and I heard this horrific flapping/banging. I put the light on and I found this guy in a spider web. I try to be good with things like this and leave them be, since the spider has to eat too, but I couldn't take it anymore and this particular web gets a lot of catches. I got him out of it with a skewer stick and his wings were stuck together on the left side. I tried to pick off what I could (when he wasn't flapping like crazy) and he flew off (or so I thought). I couldn't find him and came back inside. Sat at my desk and he took off and flew around a bit (albeit not well) and landed on my desk. He was on my bathrobe (probably should've checked there!). I took the opportunity for a photo op. You can see the web still on him in the first pic. I got tweezers and a magnifying glass and was able to get it off him. He flew onto a comforter and I caught him in a large plastic cup and freed him outside. When I saw those pincers I was thankful he didn't use them on me! I originally thought it was some sort of Dragonfly while in the web but not on a closer look. Any idea what he is? Does he bite? He was actually pretty cooperative once I got him to calm down in staying still so I could remove the webbing and separate his left wings (2 sets). He was very large - at least 2 inches in length. His body was very flexible - moving around the stick I had him on. Thanks in advance!

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Got this guy out of a web - what the heck is it?! - Chauliodes pectinicornis Got this guy out of a web - what the heck is it?! - Chauliodes pectinicornis

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Summer Fishfly…
Adult fishflies do not bite humans - most adults don't even feed at all.

See reference here.

 
I thought it was a female Dob
I thought it was a female Dobsonfly - I just found a picture that looks very similar. What's the difference? They look extremely similar.

 
Differences...
Fishflies do not have the large mandibles present in dobsonflies. Even the female dobsonflies have large mandibles. The antennae is also different in these groups.

 
Thank you so much - reading u
Thank you so much - reading up on this guy/girl now. I love it when I find insects I haven't encountered before. I do live near a lake and I see that's where they come from as opposed to Dobsonflies, which are in streams (which I am not aware of any close by).

Thanks again!

 
Ok, so…
If you see another one, because they are attracted to lights, and it gets trapped in a spider web, will you save that one too? Decisions, decisions. ; - )

 
LOL! It depends on the situat
LOL! It depends on the situation. I actually rationalized this decision - I used to be really bad with plucking insects out of webs and saving them but I've been really good over the last few years. I can't stand to see anything suffer so I just don't look but in this case the Fishfly was going crazy and thumping against the wall - it was impossible to ignore it. It already tore the web to shreds and there was no way that web was going to hold him anyway. The web belongs to a False Widow, who isn't even adult size yet. That spider catches at least 2 crane flies a night among other insects (got a Stink Bug yesterday) so I know it's well fed. See, I did think about it before I "robbed" the widow of a meal! :-)

 
Thank you...
I love the way a scientist thinks.

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