Corydalidae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iCorydalidae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Megaloptera Family: Corydalidae

The family Corydalidae contains the neuropterous insects known as dobsonflies and fishflies. They often have long filamentous antennae, though in some groups they may be short and plumose, and four large wings, of which the anterior pair is slightly longer than the posterior. They occur primarily throughout the Northern Hemisphere, both temperate and tropical, and South America.

The larvae are aquatic, active, armed with strong sharp mandibles, and breathe by means of abdominal branchial filaments. When full sized they leave the water and spend a quiescent pupal stage on the land before metamorphosis into the sexually mature insect.

Corydalus cornutus is the most well-known species among the dobsonflies (the genus Corydalus, though there are some 30 other species), which are distinctive in the elongated male mandibles. Other genera in the family, in which the males have normal mandibles, are often referred to as fishflies.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Corydalidae