Dill speaks to BDN about hellgrammites
The Bangor Daily News interviewed Jim Dill, pest management specialist with University of Maine Cooperative Extension, about hellgrammites, the larval stage of dobsonflies that are found under rocks in rivers and streams. “It’s a really nasty looking critter. The male is a really strange looking critter with two long mandibles out in front that can be an inch long [and] in the insect state the body can be 2 1/2 inches long with inch-long mandibles,” Dill says. Despite their scary looks, hellgrammites only live in clean, pollution-free river water, making them a great indicator species of the water’s quality. WGME (Channel 13 in Portland) shared the Bangor Daily News report.