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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies (Megaloptera) » Alderflies (Sialidae)

Family Sialidae - Alderflies

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Megaloptera (Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies)

Family Sialidae (Alderflies)

Explanation of Names

From genus Sialis, which see.

Numbers

Arnett, p. 344 (1) lists one genus, Sialis.

Size

Small to medium-sized, typically 10-25 mm

Identification

Medium-sized insects with soft bodies and large, delicate wings. Adults (imagos) usually found near aquatic habitats of their larvae. Similar to fishflies, Corydalidae, usually smaller. These characters differentiate:

Wings folded roof-like over back at rest

Lack ocelli (simple eyes)

Fourth tarsal segment widened, has two lobes

Wing venation of an alderfly, Sialis (the sole genus in North America):

Life Cycle

Larvae are aquatic:

Adults found, briefly, on vegetation near the aquatic habitats.

See Also

Cordyalidae - Fishflies and Dobsonflies (related, in the Megaloptera)

Plecoptera - Stoneflies--superficially similar, but unrelated

Print References

Arnett, p. 344 (1)

Castner, p. 110 (2)

Borror and White (3)

Internet References

Insects of Cedar Creek

Works Cited

1.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico By Ross H. Arnett

2.	Photographic Atlas of Entomology and Guide To Insect Identification By James L. Castner

3.	A Field Guide to Insects By Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis
Last updated 2 July, 2009 - 10:38am

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