#archichauliodes

[imagecurator]

[drhoz]

#1950 - Archichauliodes diversus - New Zealand Dobsonfly

Also known as the puene. Despite the common name, it’s actually in the Fishfly subfamily Chauliodinae of the Corydalidae. It’s the other Corydalids that usually get called Dobsonflies.

I was extremely excited when @purrdence sent me this photo - we don’t have any Megaloptera around Perth, and apart from a few sightings down on the very SW corner of Western Australia, all the Australian species are East Coast.  Archichauliodes diversus is New Zealand’s only Corydalid and one of its largest aquatic insects, and is actually surprisingly common in and around streams with moderate to good water quality, and stony or hard-bottoms. It also likes to have large rock pools and overhanging vegetation. 

The larvae are large aquatic predators called toe-biters or hellgrammites. They’ll spread a year lurking around riffles eating mayfly larvae, and uniquely emerge from the water for each molt. The prepupal stage will linger near the edge of the water when water levels are highest, then molt into a pupa that resembles the adults, but with smaller wings. The adults only live 6-10 days, laying hundreds of eggs in vegetation and on rocks near water. This one is a female - male Fishflies have large feathery antennae. In other Corydalids, the males have enormous but mostly useless jaws, large enough you could use them as lawn darts.