Who says school has to be all book work?  While schooling is traditionally bookwork, we don't school traditionally if we homeschool, do we?

Yesterday after ball practice, the boys were playing with a few friends and they foudn a horrendous bug...

Funny, this picture doesn't serve it well....

No one whom we showed the bug to knew what it was.  One lady at the post office gave us a few clues though - she believed the bug came out of the water and didn't always have wings.  Another lady called it a pine bug....my husband had NO idea what it was.  A friend of ours said they are all over her house in the summer, and they hiss....she lives by the river......

After doing a quick internet search, Calvin found this information, (sopied and pasted from http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg121.html )

Dobsonfly

Click on image to enlarge   A hellgrammite, Corydalus sp. (Neuroptera:Corydalidae). Photo by Drees.     A dobsonfly, Corydalus sp. (Neuroptera: Corydalidae), male. Photo by C. L. Cole.   A dobsonfly, Corydalus sp. (Neuroptera: Corydalidae), female. Photo by Drees.

Common Name: Dobsonfly Scientific Name: Corydalus sp. Order: Neuroptera Description: Dobsonflies are large (can be over 2 inches long), and have long antennae. Their large, many veined forewings are often mottled. When at rest, wings are held flat over the back and extend beyond the abdomen. Males have long, extended curved mandibles which are used to grasp the female during mating. Aquatic immature stages, called hellgrammites are elongate, dull colored larvae with gill filaments and feathery gill clusters along the sides of the abdomen. They have two hooks on the end of the abdomen. Alderflies (Neuroptera: Sialidae) are similar to dobsonflies but smaller. Larvae of alderflies differ from hellgrammites in that they lack the two hooks at the end of the abdomen. Life Cycle: Immatures develop in water, especially well oxygenated and high quality water. Habitat and Food Source(s): The adults probably do not feed. The long mandibles of the males would make feeding very difficult. Hellgrammites are aggressive predators that attack other aquatic insects and other organisms in the water. They are found in flowing rivers and streams hidden among rocks. Immatures can be collected in riffle areas of streams where they hide among rocks (see Mayflies). Pest Status: Adults are noticed when attracted to lights at night. Immatures (hellgrammites) are collected and used as fish bait; immatures are fierce biters, but medically harmless. Management: None, not considered a pest.

 The boys were so tickled to find out what the bug is...and that as scarey looking (at least to momma) it is, it isn't harmful.  They released the bug in our backyard after our little lesson was done.

Hope