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) "wing", in reference to the large, clumsy wings of these insects. Megaloptera are relatively unknown insects across much of their range, due to the adults' short lives, the aquatic larvae's often-high tolerance of pollution (so they are not often encountered by swimmers etc.), and the generally crepuscular or nocturnal habits. However, in the Americas the dobsonflies are rather well known, as their males have tusk-like mandibles. These, while formidable in appearance, are relatively harmless to humans and other animals; much like a peacock's feathers, they serve mainly to impress females. However, the mandibles are also used to hold females during mating, and some male dobsonflies spar with each other in courtship displays, trying to flip each other over with their long mandibles.[citation needed] Dobsonfly larvae, commonly called hellgrammites, are often used for angling bait in North America.
The Megaloptera were formerly considered part of a group then called Neuroptera, together with lacewings and snakeflies, but these are now generally considered to be separate orders, with Neuroptera referring to the lacewings and relatives (which were formerly called Planipennia). The former Neuroptera, particularly the lacewing group, are nonetheless very closely related to each other, and the new name for this group is Neuropterida.[1] This is either placed at superorder rank, with the Holometabola—of which they are part—becoming an unranked clade above it, or the Holometabola are maintained as a superorder, with an unranked Neuropterida being a part of them. Within the holometabolans, the closest living relatives of the neuropteridan clade are the beetles.
The Asian dobsonfly Acanthacorydalis fruhstorferi can have a wingspan of up to 21.6 cm (8.5 in), making it the largest aquatic insect in the world by this measurement.[2]
^Also called "Neuropteroidea", though the ending "-oidea" is normally used for superfamilies. [citation needed].
^"Largest aquatic insect (by wingspan)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
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...
Lionel Stange (November 20, 2000). "A Checklist and Bibliography of the Megaloptera and Neuroptera of Florida". Florida State Collection of Arthropods. Retrieved...
Ilisha megaloptera, the bigeye ilisha, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Pristigasteridae. It occurs in the tropical Indo-Pacific region,...
consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera is grouped together with the Megaloptera (alderflies, fishflies, and dobsonflies) and Raphidioptera (snakeflies)...
Xingyue; Yang, Ding (2006). "Phylogeny of the subfamily Chauliodinae (Megaloptera: Corydalidae), with description of a new genus from the Oriental Realm"...
ῥαφίς (raphis), meaning needle, and πτερόν (pteron), meaning wing. The Megaloptera, Neuroptera (in the modern sense) and Raphidioptera are very closely...
Zealand, Africa (particularly South Africa) and Asia. They are sizeable Megaloptera, with a body usually larger than 25 mm (1 inch). They often have long...
Other exceptions include species of Papilio. Alderflies and dobsonflies (Megaloptera) are aquatic as larvae, but their prepupae leave the water to find pupation...
Sialis is a genus of alderfly belonging to the order Megaloptera family Sialidae. These alderflies are small and mainly brown with a relatively heavy...
Phillip A.; Stange, Lionel A. (1997). "Species catalog of the Neuroptera, Megaloptera and Raphidioptera of America north of Mexico". Proceedings of the California...
This list contains species first discovered in Hong Kong, with the endemic species asterisked. Bauhinia (Bauhinia blakeana) Crapnell's camellia (Camellia...
Synechodes megaloptera is a moth in the family Brachodidae. It was described by Kallies in 1998. It is found in northern Borneo. Kallies, A., 2004: The...
Coleoptera order Strepsiptera order Neuroptera order Raphidioptera order Megaloptera order Diptera order Mecoptera order Trichoptera order Lepidoptera order...
Society of America 61: 1181-87. Neunzig, H. H. and J. R. Baker. Order Megaloptera. 1991. In: Stehr, F. W., editor. Immature Insects, Vol. 2. Kendall/Hunt...
sometimes divided into three assemblages: Neuropterida (Neuroptera, Megaloptera, Raphidioptera, Strepsiptera and Coleoptera), Hymenopteroida (Hymenoptera)...
Ledromorpha planirostris, which can reach a length of 2.8 cm (1.1 in). Megaloptera includes dobsonflies, alderflies and relatives. The largest is the dobsonfly...
Phillip A.; Stange, Lionel A. (1997). "Species catalog of the Neuroptera, Megaloptera, and Raphidioptera of America north of Mexico". Proceedings of the California...
common name alderfly, is a species of alderfly belonging to the order Megaloptera family Sialidae. This species is mainly present in Austria, Belgium,...
Phillip A.; Stange, Lionel A. (1997). "Species catalog of the Neuroptera, Megaloptera and Raphidioptera of America north of Mexico". Proceedings of the California...
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