ENY 3005 Family Identification

Megaloptera: Corydalidae

 Common names: dobsonfly, fishfly

Dobsonflies are most frequently encountered on vegetation near running water. 

Identifying characteristics for the family Corydalidae include:

• Adults large (> 25 mm), soft-bodied, fold their wings flat on the back, and have 3 ocelli. Antennae may be filiform, serrate, or pectinate.
• Alderflies, family Sialidae, are smaller, hold their wings rooflike,  and lack ocelli.

• Males of some species have enormous mandibles, but it is the females with regular-sized mandibles that may inflict a painful bite if mishandled during collection.
• Most species have a 2- to 3-year life cycle. Eggs are laid above water and hatch in about 2 weeks. The predaceous larvae live along the margins of lakes and under rocks in streams. Pupation lasts about two weeks and occurs on land in cells in the soil or under debris. Adults live just a few days.
• Larvae of the dobsonfly, Corydalus cornutus, are known as hellgrammites and grow to be about 90 mm in length. Larvae of the fishflies, Chauliodes species, are only 40 mm long when mature.

Dobsonfly, Corydalus cornutus (L.). Males of this species have extremely long mandibles.

References:

• Page 140 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Page 363 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Page 443 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.
• Page 241 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.

Links to other web sites

• Genus Corydalus page on Arizona Tree of Life