Megaloptera (dobsonflies and alderflies)

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Ecdysozoa > Panarthropoda > Tritocerebra > Phylum: Arthopoda > Mandibulata > Atelocerata > Panhexapoda > Hexapoda > Insecta (insects) > Dicondyla > Pterygota > Metapterygota > Neoptera > Eumetabola > Holometabola > Neuropterida

Dobsonfly Chloroniella peringueyi (Corydalidae), Cederberg, Western Cape, South Africa. [photo HG Robertson, Iziko ©]

Corydalid nymph at bottom of mountain stream in the Kleinmond Nature Reserve, Western Cape, South Africa. Note lateral abdominal gills.[photo HG Robertson, Iziko ©]

Megaloptera have aquatic predaceous larvae. They are found in streams of the Cape folded mountains and the Drakensberg. There are two families in the order: Corydalidae (dobsonflies; have ocelli) and Sialidae (alderflies; ocelli absent).