Neohermes angusticollis

Moved

… Charley Eiseman, 24 June, 2009 - 3:37pm

Yes Neohermes

Yes, that is a Neohermes--you can tell by the antennae--beads on a string with hairiness--quite different than, say, Chauliodes. I share your presumption that it is angusticollis in this area, but I don't know how to confirm that. That is the only one listed in old checklists, but the group is not well-known, so I don't know what to say. I think it is possible the taxonomy is not even well-known.

… Cotinis, 9 June, 2009 - 3:04pm

in our NCSU collection, there's a N. rastinicornis that was found in NC as well as the N. angusticollis

… Jessica Lawrence, 10 June, 2009 - 7:34pm

Yes, unsure on that one

I think that might be an older name for Chauliodes rastinicornis, since the NCSU collection lists Chauliodes rastricornis Rambur with that genus and then Neohermes rastinicornis Rambur under that genus--looks like it could be an error or a taxonomic shuffle. Brimley (1) lists angusticollis in genus Chauliodes. It is all very confusing, and I'm not quite sure what is what. (Nearctica.com does not list Neohermes rastinicornis, but does note that most members of Neohermes were originally in Chauliodes--that is, Neohermes was erected as a genus recently. This makes me think Neohermes rastinicornis at NCSU is simply an error for i]Chauliodes rastinicornis[/i], but who knows! There is also a Neohermes filicornis Banks....)

So it is all completely muddled, and it would not surprise me if the taxonomy of Neohermes species is not well-established. The critters have no economic importance, and I doubt they've been studied since the original descriptions in the 19th century. I have a list of things I want to investigate in the NCSU collections--maybe I'll get the time when I retire in 20 years!

Update--a key to males of this genus is available here.

… Cotinis, 10 June, 2009 - 9:05pm

according to that key

it's definitely angusticollis based on the terminalia... woot!

… Jessica Lawrence, 10 June, 2009 - 9:19pm login or register to post comments

Yup...

Yes, I was just looking at that too, and I have better shots in my files of the terminalia of one male. It looks to be angusticollis based on the clasper-like structures--they say you need to look at the aedeagus for a definitive ID, and I'm not sure I can see that. Edit--images:

Anyway, I'm glad you made me revisit this one--I had not seen the key before.

… Cotinis, 10 June, 2009 - 9:32pm

and

I see you are a megaloptera guy... if you look up some of my pictures on here, I have a life-size dobsonfly tattoo on my back from a picture I took above her back with her wings closed... she was about 5" and the biggest I've ever seen :) I found her on my birthday last year!

… Jessica Lawrence, 9 June, 2009 - 3:54pm

well then.

clearly I need to persuade my boss to pay me to make a key during work hours... or like, a photo-id of all the local fishflies... :-D

… Jessica Lawrence, 9 June, 2009 - 3:52pm