Fishflies are members of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

Chauliodinae, belonging to the

megaloptera Megaloptera is an order of insects. It contains the alderflies, dobsonflies and fishflies, and there are about 300 known species. The order's name comes from Ancient Greek, from ''mega-'' (μέγα-) "large" + ''pteryx'' (πτέρυξ) "win ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Corydalidae The family Corydalidae contains the Megaloptera, megalopterous insects known as dobsonflies and fishflies. Making up about one dozen genera,See references in Haaramo (2008) they occur primarily throughout the Northern Hemisphere, both temperate a ...

. They are most easily distinguished from their closest relatives, dobsonflies, by the jaws (mandibles) and antennae. In contrast to the large jaws (especially in males) of dobsonflies, fishfly mandibles are not particularly noticeable or distinctive, and the males have feathery antennae similar to many large

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s. '' Chauliodes pectinicornis'', the "summer fishfly", is a well-known species in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. Fishflies lay their eggs upon vegetation overhanging streams, whence the larvae, as soon as hatched, drop into the water, and go about preying upon aquatic animals. When ready to transform to

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

e, they crawl out upon the bank and are then found in cavities under stones or even under the bark of trees. Fishflies are quite large, with a wingspan of . They will eat aquatic plants as well as small animals including

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

s like

minnow Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genera of the families Cyprinidae and Leuciscidae. They are also known in Ireland as pinkeens. Smaller fish in the subfamily Leusciscidae are c ...

s and

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...

s, and may live up to seven days as adults. Their entire lifespan is several years, but most of this time is spent as

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e. There are about 15 genera with nearly 110 species. The New World genera include ''Dysmicohermes'', ''Orohermes'', ''Neohermes'', ''Nothochauliodes'', ''Protochauliodes'', ''Archichauliodes'', ''Chauliodes'' and ''Nigronia''. Three genera are endemic to the Afrotropical Realm and are found in Madagascar and South Africa - ''Platychauliodes'', ''Madachauliodes'' and ''Taeniochauliodes. Archichauliodes'' and ''Protochauli-odes'' found in the Australian Realm. The genera endemic to the Oriental Realm are ''Anachauliodes'', ''Ctenochauliodes'', ''Neochauliodes'' and ''Parachauliodes.''

Extinct genera

* †'' Cretochaulus'' Ponomarenko 1976

Zaza Formation The Zaza Formation is a geological formation located in Buryatia (Russia). It dates to the Lower Cretaceous period. It is Aptian in age and consists of sandstones, siltstones, marls and bituminous shales, deposited in a stratified lake. It is s ...

, Gidarinskaya Formation, Russia, Early Cretaceous (

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ag ...

) * †'' Eochauliodes'' Liu et al. 2012

Daohugou The Haifanggou Formation (), also known as the Jiulongshan Formation (), is a fossil-bearing rock deposit located near Daohugou () village of Ningcheng County, in Inner Mongolia, northeastern China. The formation consists of coarse conglomerates ...

, China, Middle/Late Jurassic * †'' Jurochauliodes'' Wang and Zhang 2010

, China, Middle/Late Jurassic

References

External links

*
BugGuide.net

InsectIdentification.org

University of Virginia

InsectIdentification.org
Fishfly photos Corydalidae Aquatic insects Insect subfamilies {{Megaloptera-stub