Insects, Nature, and photography

Hellgrammites

I was boulder hopping one of my favorite waterfalls in Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona looking for a unique angle to photograph it from.

Then I saw it. It was hard not to miss. The beast was rather large for a bug. It had lots and lots of legs and pincers on both ends. It was moving across, over and under the rocks. The fearsome looking insect was moving in and out of the water. It was equally at home in all terrains, its many legs scurrying in unison. I had no idea what manner of creature I had discovered but I was certain that I wanted to take its photograph.

When I proudly displayed my photos on social media my friends gleefully let me know that I had discovered a hellgrammite. The insect is also commonly known as a “toe-biter”. As I bent in close, poking my lens into his business, the hellgrammite went about unconcerned by my close proximity. He seemed certain that despite my obvious advantages in size and mass that I posed no threat to him. Had we been approximately the same size and mass I am certain I would have run away in terror.

Hellgrammites are the larval stage of the Dobson fly. The life cycle begins with a pile of eggs camoflauged as bird droppings to ward off predators. The eggs hatch and the creek fills with tiny larva who grow quickly. At least those which are not eaten. One of the reasons hellgrammites are often found under rocks is because they are hiding. Despite their fearsome appearance, apparently hellgrammites are delicious and big fish like to eat them. Hellgrammites are voracious predators in their own right. They devour just about any invertebrate which might live along the river. They also eat tadpoles, frogs, baby mice and even fish smaller than themselves. Hellgrammites live in the larval stage for two or three years. Then they spend the winter in a cocoon before emerging in their adult stage as Dobson flies. Dobson flies are large flying insects who only exist as adults for a few days. They do not eat during this brief time but are concerned only with reproduction.

Many people on social media also pointed out that hellgrammites make great bait. I asked my friend Tina the Fishergirl if this was true. She told me about one afternoon when she was fishing along the Verde River and she saw her first Hellgrammite. Her first thought was “What a big and ugly bug!”

Her husband told her that hellgrammites make good bait. Tina reached down to pick up the creature, grabbing it in the middle. The hellgrammite spun around and pinched her finger with those front fangs.

Tina screamed an explicit curse word. I will leave the reader to insert the curse word of their choice here.

She dropped the hellgrammite and ran away. When I asked she said the hellgrammite did not chase her.

The husband who gave her the bad bait advice is now an ex-husband. She said there were many more reasons for the divorce than this but the hellgrammite incident did not help.

For the record, hellgrammites do make good bait. There are several online fly fishing videos about how to tie your fishing flies so they look just like a hellgrammite. If you want to use a live hellgrammite for bait you need to be careful about how you pick them up. The internet says to grab them just behind the head. Let me know how that works out for you.

If you do see a hellgrammite in a river or creek, consider it a good thing. Hellgrammites require fresh unpolluted streams and rivers to survive. If you do see a hellgrammite it means you are seeing a healthy eco-system and that is a blessed thing indeed.