Protohermes is a genus of dobsonflies in the family Corydalidae. Protohermes is the most speciose and widely distributed genus within Megaloptera, but up to 85% of species are restricted to small endemic areas in Asia. This endemism may be a result of an association with high elevation and high slope streams in Northern Vietnam and China.
Description Adult Protohermes generally have yellow coloration with white spots on the wings. The male genitalia are diverse across the genus and can be useful only for species-level identification, especially the shape and size of the tenth tergum and the subgenital plate at the ninth sternum. Nuptial gifts in Protohermes may as large as 20% of the total body mass of the male and can require up to 2 days to recover before mating again.
The size and phenology of larvae is closely tied to the availability of different sizes of prey. Dwarfism occurs in populations on islands and peninsulas as a result of fewer species of large prey, and maturation may be synchronous with prey in locations with seasonal variability. Larger larvae do not consume smaller prey, and they actively select prey as an ambush predator. Larvae are motionless 90% of the time during the day, but do change position on the stream bed during the night.
Taxonomy Protohermes contains the following species:Lacewing Digital Library: Protohermes
Protohermes acutatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes albipennis (Walker, 1853) Protohermes arunachalensis Ghosh, 1991 Protohermes assamensis Kimmins, 1949 Protohermes axillatus Navás, 1932 Protohermes basimaculatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes bellulus Banks, 1931 Protohermes burmanus X.-y. Liu & Dvořák, 2017 Protohermes cangyuanensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988 Protohermes cavaleriei Navás, 1925 Protohermes changninganus C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988 Protohermes chebalingensis X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006 Protohermes concolorus C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988 Protohermes congruens X.-y. Liu et al., 2009 Protohermes costalis (Walker, 1853) Protohermes costatostriatus (van der Weele, 1907) (=Neurhermes) Protohermes curvicornis X.-y. Liu et al., 2013 Protohermes davidi van der Weele, 1909 Protohermes decemmaculatus (Walker, 1860) Protohermes decolor Navás, 1931 Protohermes dichrous (Brauer, 1878) Protohermes differentialis (C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1986) (=Neurhermes) Protohermes dimaculatus C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988 Protohermes disjunctus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes dulongjiangensis X.-y. Liu et al., 2010 Protohermes festivus Navás, 1932 Protohermes flavinervus X.-y. Liu et al., 2009 Protohermes flavipennis Navás, 1929 Protohermes flinti X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes fruhstorferi (van der Weele, 1907) Protohermes fujianensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1999 Protohermes furcatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2008 Protohermes goodgeri X.-y. Liu et al., 2013 Protohermes grandis (Thunberg, 1781) Protohermes guangxiensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1986 Protohermes gutianensis D. Yang & C.-k. Yang, 1995 Protohermes hainanensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1990 Protohermes horni Navás, 1932 Protohermes hubeiensis D. Yang & C.-k. Yang, 1992 Protohermes hunanensis D. Yang & C.-k. Yang, 1992 Protohermes immaculatus Kuwayama, 1964 Protohermes impunctatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2008 Protohermes infectus (McLachlan, 1869) Protohermes ishizukai X.-y. Liu et al., 2009 Protohermes karubei X.-y. Liu et al., 2013 Protohermes latus X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006 Protohermes lii X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes maculiferus (Walker, 1853) (=Neurhermes) Protohermes maculipennis (G. Gray in Cuvier, 1832) (=Neurhermes) Protohermes montanus (McLachlan, 1869) Protohermes motuoensis X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006 Protohermes niger C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988 Protohermes nigerescens (X.-y. Liu et al., 2015) (=Neurhermes) Protohermes ohli X.-y. Liu et al., 2013 Protohermes orientalis X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes owadai X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes parcus C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988 Protohermes pennyi X.-y. Liu et al., 2009 Protohermes piaoacanus X.-y. Liu et al., 2008 Protohermes sabahensis X.-y. Liu et al., 2008 Protohermes selysi (van der Weele, 1909) (=Neurhermes) Protohermes similis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988 Protohermes sinensis D. Yang & C.-k. Yang, 1992 Protohermes sinuolatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2009 Protohermes sonus X.-y. Liu et al., 2013 Protohermes spectabilis X.-y. Liu et al., 2008 Protohermes stangei X.-y. Liu & Dobosz, 2019 Protohermes stigmosus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes striatulus Navás, 1926 Protohermes sublunatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2013 Protohermes subnubilus Kimmins, 1949 Protohermes subparcus X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006 Protohermes sumatrensis (van der Weele, 1909) (=Neurhermes) Protohermes tenellus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes tonkinensis (van der Weele, 1909) (=Neurhermes) Protohermes tortuosus X.-y. Liu et al., 2008 Protohermes trapezius Li & X.-y. Liu, 2021 Protohermes triangulatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes uniformis Banks, 1931 Protohermes vitalisi Navás, 1919 Protohermes walkeri Navás, 1929 Protohermes weelei Navás, 1925 Protohermes wuyishanicus Li & X.-y. Liu, 2021 Protohermes xanthodes Navás, 1914 Protohermes xingshanensis X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2005 Protohermes yangi X.-y. Liu et al., 2007 Protohermes yunnanensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988 Protohermes zhuae X.-y. Liu et al., 2008
Some authors recognize species-group assemblages within the genus (e.g., ), and other authors treat the genus Neurhermes as valid (these species are marked above), but are generally treated as Protohermes.
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