Alderflies are megalopteran

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Sialidae. They are closely related to the

dobsonflies Dobsonflies are a subfamily of insects, Corydalinae, part of the Megalopteran family Corydalidae. The larvae (commonly called hellgrammites) are aquatic, living in streams, and the adults are often found along streams as well. The nine genera ...

and fishflies as well as to the

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

Euchauliodidae. All living alderflies – about 66

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

all together – are part of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Sialinae, which contains nine extant

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

Description

Sialinae have a body length of less than 25 mm (1 inch), long filamentous antennae, and four large dark wings of which the

anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

pair is slightly longer than the posterior. They lack

ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

and their fourth tarsal segment is dilated and deeply bilobed. Dead alderfly larvae are used as bait in fishing.fly fishing entomology alderfy entry
/ref>

Life cycle

The females lay a vast number of eggs on grass stems near water. When the larvae are born they drop into the water or the ground nearby it and make their way into their new aquatic biome. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e are aquatic, active, armed with strong sharp mandibles, and breathe by means of seven pairs of abdominal branchial filaments. When full sized, which takes between one and two years, they leave the water and spend a quiescent

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

l stage on the land before

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

into the sexually mature insect. Adult alderflies stay near to the water in which they had lived when they were younger. Once in their adult stage, they tend to live only 2 to 3 weeks, which they spend mainly in reproducing.

Classification

In addition to the nine living genera, there are several genera of

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

alderflies. Sialis_larva_Packard

Family Sialidae *Genus †'' Dobbertinia'' Handlirsch 1920 Green Series, Germany, Early Jurassic (

Toarcian The Toarcian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS' geologic timescale, an age (geology), age and stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Early Jurassic, Early or Lower Jurassic. It spans the time between 184.2 Megaannum, Ma (million ...

) *Subfamily †Sharasialinae Liu, Hayashi & D.Yang, 2015 **Genus †'' Sharasialis'' Ponomarenko 2012 Shar-Teeg, Mongolia, Late Jurassic (

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age (geology), age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 149.2 ±0.7 annum, Ma and 143.1 ±0.6 (mi ...

) *Subfamily Sialinae Leach in Brewster, 1815 **Genus '' Austrosialis'' Tillyard, 919/small> ***Species '' Austrosialis ignicollis'' Tillyard, 919/small> ***Species '' Austrosialis maxmouldsi'' Theischinger, 1983 **Genus '' Caribesialis'' Ardila-Camacho, Martins & Contreras-Ramos, 2021 ***Species '' Caribesialis bifasciata'' (Hagen, 1861) **Genus †'' Dobbertinia'' Handlirsch in Schröder, 1920 ***Species †'' Dobbertinia reticulata'' Handlirsch in Schröder, 1920 **Genus †'' Eosialis'' Nel, Menier, De Ploëg, Hodebert & Danvin, 2002 ***Species †'' Eosialis dorisi'' Nel et al., 2002 **Genus '' Haplosialis'' Navás, 1927 ***Species '' Haplosialis madegassa'' Navás, 1927 ***Species '' Haplosialis afra'' Navás, (1936) **Genus †'' Haplosialodes'' Huang, Azar, Engel, Cai, Garrouste & Nel, 2016 ***Species †'' Haplosialodes liui'' Huang, Azar, Engel, Cai, Garrouste & Nel, 2016 **Genus '' Ilyobius'' Enderlein, 1910 ***Species †'' Ilyobius balticus'' (Wichard, 1997) ***Species '' Ilyobius bimaculata'' Banks, 1920 ***Species †'' Ilyobius cascus'' (Engel & Grimaldi, 2007) ***Species '' Ilyobius chilensis'' (McLachlan, (1871) ***Species '' Ilyobius curvatus'' Liu, Hayashi & D. Yang, 2015b ***Species '' Ilyobius flammatus'' Penny, (1981) ***Species '' Ilyobius flavicollis'' (Enderlein, 1910) ***Species '' Ilyobius hauseri'' Contreras-Ramos, Fiorentin & Urakami, (2005) ***Species †'' Ilyobius herrlingi'' Wichard, 2002 ***Species '' Ilyobius mexicana'' (Banks, 1901) ***Species '' Ilyobius nigrocephalus'' Ardila-Camacho, Martins & Contreras-Ramos in Ardila-Camacho et al., 2021 ***Species '' Ilyobius nubila'' Navás, 1933b ***Species '' Ilyobius ranchograndis'' Contreras-Ramos, 2006b **Genus '' Indosialis'' Lestage, 1927 ***Species '' Indosialis bannaensis'' X.-y. Liu et al., 2006 ***Species '' Indosialis beskonakensis'' Nel, 1988 ***Species '' Indosialis indica'' X.-y. Liu et al., 2008 ***Species '' Indosialis minora'' (Banks, 1920) **Genus '' Leptosialis'' Esben-Petersen, 1920 ***Species '' Leptosialis africana Esben-Petersen, 1920'' **Genus †'' Proindosialis'' Nel, 1988 ***Species †'' Proindosialis cantalensis'' Nel, 1988 **Genus '' Protosialis'' van der Weele, 1909 ***Species '' Protosialis americana'' (Rambur, 1842) ***Species '' Protosialis australiensis'' (Tillyard, 919) ***Species ''Protosialis australis'' Navás, 1927 ***Species ''Protosialis brasiliensis'' Navás, 1936 ***Species ''Protosialis minora'' Banks, 1920 ***Species †''Protosialis voigti'' (Wichard & Engel, 2006) **Genus ''Sialis'' Latreille, 1802 ***Species Approximately 90 ***Species '' Sialis abchasica'' Vshivkova, 1985 ***Species '' Sialis aequalis'' Banks, 1920 ***Species '' Sialis americana'' (Rambur, 1842) ***Species '' Sialis annae'' Vshivkova, 1979 ***Species '' Sialis arvalis'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis atra'' Navás, (1928) ***Species '' Sialis bifida'' Hayashi & Suda, 1997 ***Species '' Sialis bilineata'' Say, 1823 ***Species '' Sialis bilobata'' Whiting, 1991 ***Species '' Sialis californica'' Banks, 1920 ***Species '' Sialis chilensis'' McLachlan, (1871) ***Species '' Sialis concava'' Banks, 1897 ***Species '' Sialis contigua'' Flint, 1964 ***Species '' Sialis cornuta'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis didyma'' Navás, 1916 ***Species '' Sialis dorochovae'' Vshivkova, 1985 ***Species '' Sialis dorsata'' Say, 1823 ***Species '' Sialis dreisbachi'' Flint, 1964 ***Species '' Sialis elegans'' X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006 ***Species '' Sialis flavicollis'' Enderlein, 1910 ***Species '' Sialis formosana'' Esben-Petersen, 1913 ***Species '' Sialis frequens'' Okamoto, 1905 ***Species '' Sialis fuliginosa'' F. Pictet, 1836 ***Species '' Sialis fumosa'' Navás, 1915 ***Species '' Sialis glabella'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis gonzalezi'' Vshivkova, 1985 ***Species †'' Sialis groehni'' Wichard, 1997 ***Species '' Sialis hamata'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis hasta'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis henanensis'' X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006 ***Species '' Sialis imbecilla'' Say, 1823 ***Species '' Sialis immarginata'' Say, 1823 ***Species '' Sialis infumata'' Newman, 1838 ***Species '' Sialis iola'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis itasca'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis japonica'' van der Weele, 1909 ***Species '' Sialis jianfengensis'' D. Yang et al., 2002 ***Species '' Sialis joppa'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis klingstedti'' Vshivkova, 1985 ***Species '' Sialis kunmingensis'' X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006 ***Species '' Sialis levanidovae'' Vshivkova, 1980 ***Species '' Sialis longidens'' Klingstedt, (1932) ***Species '' Sialis lutaria'' (Linnaeus, 1758) ***Species '' Sialis martynovae'' Vshivkova, 1980 ***Species '' Sialis melania'' Nakahara, 1915 ****Subspecies '' Sialis melania kyushuensis'' Hayashi & Suda, 1995 ****Subspecies '' Sialis melania melania'' Nakahara, 1915 ****Subspecies '' Sialis melania tohokuensis'' Hayashi & Suda, 1995 ****Subspecies '' Sialis melania toyamaensis'' Hayashi & Suda, 1995 ***Species '' Sialis mohri'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis morio'' Klingstedt, (1933) ***Species '' Sialis morrisoni'' K. Davis, 1903 ***Species '' Sialis muratensis'' Nel, 1988 ***Species '' Sialis nevadensis'' K. Davis, 1903 ***Species '' Sialis nigripes'' E. Pictet, 1865 ***Species ''

Sialis nina ''Sialis'' is a genus of alderfly belonging to the order Megaloptera family Sialidae. Description These alderflies are small and mainly brown with a relatively heavy body and forewings reaching a length of 10 to 20 millimeters. Females are us ...

'' Townsend, 1939 ***Species '' Sialis occidens'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis rotunda'' Banks, 1920 ***Species '' Sialis sibirica'' McLachlan, 1872 ***Species '' Sialis sinensis'' Banks, (1940) ***Species '' Sialis sordida'' Klingstedt, (1933) ***Species '' Sialis spangleri'' Flint, 1964 ***Species '' Sialis strausi'' Illies, 1967 ***Species '' Sialis vagans'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis vanderweelei'' U. Aspöck & H. Aspöck, 1983 ***Species '' Sialis velata'' Ross, 1937 ***Species '' Sialis versicoloris'' X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006 ***Species '' Sialis yamatoensis'' Hayashi & Suda, 1995 ***Species '' Sialis zhiltzovae'' Vshivkova, 1985 **Genus '' Stenosialis'' Tillyard, (1919) ***Species '' Stenosialis australiensis'' Tillyard, (1919) ***Species '' Stenosialis hollowayi'' Theischinger, 1983 ''Sialis lutaria'' is the commonest alderfly in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(2006)
Alderfly - ''Sialis lutaria''
Retrieved 28 June 2006. and across much of Europe.

References

External links

BugGuide

{{Authority control Megaloptera Aquatic insects