Alderflies are megalopteran insects of the family Sialidae. They are closely related to the dobsonflies and fishflies as well as to the prehistoric Euchauliodidae. All living alderflies – about 66 species all together – are part of the subfamily Sialinae, which contains nine extant genera.Sialis lutaria is the commonest alderfly in the United Kingdom (2006): . Retrieved 28 June 2006. and across much of Europe.
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 pair is slightly longer than the posterior. They lack ocelli and their fourth tarsal segment is dilated and deeply bilobed. Dead alderfly larvae are used as bait in fishing.fly fishing entomology alderfy entry
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 larvae 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 pupal stage on the land before metamorphosis 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 alderflies.
Family Sialidae Subfamily †Sharasialinae Liu, Hayashi & D.Yang, 2015 Genus †Sharasialis Ponomarenko, 2012 Shar-Teeg, Mongolia, Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Subfamily Sialinae Leach in Brewster, 1815 Genus Austrosialis Tillyard, Species Austrosialis ignicollis Tillyard, Species Austrosialis maxmouldsi Theischinger, 1983 Genus Caribesialis Ardila-Camacho et al., 2021 Species Caribesialis bifasciata (Hagen, 1861) Genus †Dobbertinia Handlirsch 1920 Green Series, Germany, Early Jurassic (Toarcian) Species †Dobbertinia reticulata Handlirsch in Schröder, 1920 Genus †Eosialis Nel et al., 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 et al., 2016 Species †Haplosialodes liui Huang et al., 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 et al., 2015 Species Ilyobius erebus Mendes et al., 2022 Species Ilyobius flammatus Penny, (1981) Species Ilyobius flavicollis (Enderlein, 1910) Species Ilyobius hauseri Contreras-Ramos et al., (2005) Species †Ilyobius herrlingi Wichard, 2002 Species Ilyobius mexicana (Banks, 1901) Species Ilyobius nigrocephalus Ardila-Camacho et al., 2021 Species Ilyobius nubila Navás, 1933 Species Ilyobius ranchograndis Contreras-Ramos, 2006 Genus Indosialis Lestage, 1927 Species Indosialis bannaensis Liu et al., 2006 Species Indosialis beskonakensis Nel, 1988 Species Indosialis indica 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, [1919) 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 (approx. 90 species) 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 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 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 Liu & D. Yang, 2006 Species Sialis kouwenkaii Tu et al., 2023 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 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 Aspöck & Aspöck, 1983 Species Sialis velata Ross, 1937 Species Sialis versicoloris 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 Subfamily Incertae sedis Genus †Chauliosialis Ponomarenko, 1976 Species †Chauliosialis sukatshevae Ponomarenko, 1976 Genus †Nematophlebia Cockerell, 1915 Species †Nematophlebia plicata Cockerell, 1915
Phylogeny Phylogeny based on Liu et al., 2015 and Ardila-Camacho et al., 2021: Note: the fossil genus Haplosialodes is not included in the phylogeny, as it was described one year later. However, it is likely most closely related to either Stenosialis or Haplosialis.
References
External links
BugGuide Insects of Cedar Creek