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<corydal.htm> [For
educational purposes only] Glossary <Principal Natural Enemy Groups> <Citations> <Home> |
NEUROPTERA, Corydalidae -- <Images> & <Juveniles> Please refer to the
following link for details on this group:
Link 2 The family Corydalidae contains
megalopterous insects known as dobsonflies and fishflies. There are about 12
species that occur mainly throughout the Northern Hemisphere, both temperate
and tropical, and South America. They are large
Megaloptera, with a body usually larger than 25 mm (1 inch). They may have
long filamentous antennae, though in male fishflies they are
characteristically feathered. Ocelli are present; the fourth tarsal segment
is cylinder-shaped. The four large wings are translucent, smoky grey, or mixed,
and the anterior pair is slightly longer than the posterior one. The eastern dobsonfly,
is the most well-known North American species among the dobsonflies. These
genera have distinctive elongated mandibles in males and form the subfamily
Corydalinae. The genera in which the males have normal mandibles, called
fishflies, form the subfamily Chauliodinae. The summer fishfly, Chauliodes
pectinicornis, is perhaps the best-known of these in North America; its
immense mating swarms in the Upper Mississippi River region fill the air on a
few summer nights each year much like mayflies in certain regions of Europe,
leaving millions of carcasses to be cleaned up the next day. Larvae are aquatic,
active, armed with strong sharp mandibles, and breathe by means of abdominal
branchial filaments. When full sized , which requires several years, they
depart the water and spend a quiescent pupal stage on the land, in chambers
dug under stones or logs, before metamorphosis into the sexually mature insect. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional references
may be found at: MELVYL
Library] Brigham, W.U., A. K. Brigham, and A. Gnilke.
1982. Aquatic Insects and Oligochaetes of North and South Carolina. Midwest Aquatic
Entomologist. Haaramo, Mikko.
2008. Mikko's Phylogeny Archive: Corydalidae. Version of 2008-MAR-11. McCafferty, W. P. 1983. Aquatic Entomology: The
Fishermen's Guide and Ecologists' Illustrated Guide to Insects and Their
Relatives. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Merritt R.W., & K.W. Cummins. 1996. An Introduction to the
Aquatic Insects of North America (Third Edition). Kendall/Hunt Publishing
Company. Peckarsky, B. 1990. Freshwater Macroinvertebrates
of Northeastern North America. Comstock
Publishing. Schwiebert, E.
G. 1955. Matching the Hatch. Macmillan Publishing Company. Stehr, F. W.
1998. Immature Insects. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. Usinger, R. L. 1956. Aquatic Insects California, with
keys to North American Genera and California species. University of California
Press. |