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Probably the most frequent questions we get are what is a dobsonfly and why did you name yourselves that. Well, you've come to the right place! What is a "dobsonfly"?  A dobsonfly is a very large insect (right)...one of America's largest at 4"-5" long in it's adult state. Their larval state is better known as a hellgramite and fisherman use them as bait. The larval state lives under rocks in well-aerated streams, eating anything it can that floats by. They pupate after 2-4 years into the adult state. Males have large mandibles (as shown at right) that are used solely to hold onto the female during mating. The females maintain the sharp pincers they had as larva. Apparently dobsonflies are an "indicator" species...only surviving in very clean environments. Here are some links with more information about dobsonflies: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Great picture of an adult female
Why did you name yourself Dobsonfly Design? The short story is that one get-away weekend several years ago, our good friend Renee came up with the name when we were trying to think up names for a design firm. Concrete Kitty was another concept. The longer, back story is that one day Jay was floating in a pool with friends and felt a "leaf" brush against his arm. On closer inspection (he wasn't wearing his glasses), it turned out to be the biggest ugliest bug he'd ever seen. He's ashamed to admit it now, but his instinct was to kill it. It was too big to simply "step on" without creating a huge mess. And it seemed to be helpless floating in the pool anyway. An attempt was made to hold it under water...but it simply crawled up the side of the pool. I won't go into the gory details of how the bug was finally done in...suffice it to say it was very difficult to kill. And so with that story in mind, and the fact that the bug was so difficult to kill, Renee thought it would be a good concept for the firm. |
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