Editing Dobsonfly (section)

==Description==
Adult dobsonflies are some of the largest non-[[Lepidopteran]] insects of [[temperate zones]] such as the United States and Canada, with a wingspan of up to {{cvt|18|cm|in}} in some species of ''[[Corydalus]]''.<ref name=sl>Stange, Lionel. "Alderflies and Dobsonflies." Encyclopedia of Entomology. 2nd ed. New York: Springer Publishing, 2008.</ref> The Asian ''[[Acanthacorydalis fruhstorferi]]'' can have a wingspan of up to {{cvt|21.6|cm|in}}, making it the largest dobsonfly and the [[List of largest insects|largest aquatic insect]] in the world by this measurement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/428458-largest-aquatic-insect-pterygota |title=Largest aquatic insect (by wingspan) |website=Guinness World Records |access-date=4 April 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/22/world/asia/giant-insect-china/|title=World's largest aquatic insect specimen found in China|first=Zoe|last=Li|date=July 22, 2014|access-date=June 3, 2016|publisher=CNN}}</ref> The [[insect wings|wings]] vary from a grayish to translucent shade, depending on the species, and the anal region of the hindwing is wide and folded at rest. Despite the large wings, adults are weak, fluttery fliers. The body is soft and coloration varies from yellow to dark shades of brown.<ref name=sl/> The body typically does not surpass {{cvt|7.5|cm|in}} in length,<ref name=sl/> although the largest Asian ''Acanthacorydalis'' may reach {{cvt|10.5|cm|in}}.<ref>{{cite journal| author1=Xing Yue Liu | author2=Ding Yang | author3=Si Qin Ge | author4=Xing Ke Yang | year=2005 | title=Phylogenetic review of the Chinese species of Acanthacorydalis (Megaloptera, Corydalidae) | journal=Zoologica Scripta | volume=34 | issue=4 | pages=373–387 | doi=10.1111/j.1463-6409.2005.00197.x | s2cid=84988447 }}</ref>

Adult males of many—but not all—species are easily recognized by their long, curving [[mandible (insect mouthpart)|mandibles]]. Examples of species with large-mandibled males include the genera ''Acanthacorydalis'', ''Corydalus'' and ''Platyneuromus'', while in ''Neoneuromus'', ''Nevromus'', ''Neurhermes'' and ''Protohermes'' the sexes are similar.<ref name=Liu2015>{{cite journal| author1=Xingyue Liu | author2=Fumio Hayashi | author3=Laura C. Lavine | author4=Ding Yang | year=2015 | title=Is diversification in male reproductive traits driven by evolutionary trade-offs between weapons and nuptial gifts? | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | volume=282 | issue=1807 | pages=373–387 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2015.0247 | pmid=25925103 | pmc=4424648 }}</ref> In ''Corydalus cornutus'', a particularly long-mandibled species, these can reach up to {{cvt|4|cm|in}} in length and are used in competition for females.<ref name=sd>Simonsen, T. J., Dombroskie, J. J., and D. D. Lawrie (2008). Behavioral Observations on the Dobsonfly, ''Corydalus cornutus'' (Megaloptera: Corydalidae) with Photographic Evidence of the Use of the Elongate Mandibles in the Male. American Entomologist 64 167-169.</ref> It is possible that the mandibles may have been [[sexual selection|selected]] as [[secondary sex characteristics]] used by females to evaluate males during [[courtship display|courtship]]. Males cannot use these mandibles to bite because they are too long; on the other hand, females have short, heavily [[sclerite|sclerotized]] mandibles which enable them to deliver powerful bites when threatened.<ref name=sl/> Males of many species will also produce [[nuptial gift]]s in the form of packages of nutrient-rich  [[spermatophores]] that are eaten by the female partner after mating. This has been shown to be correlated to mandible size; in species where the males have large mandibles the "nuptial gift" is small or absent, while it is large in species where males lack the exaggerated mandibles. Two genera, ''[[Chloroniella]]'' and ''[[Chloronia]]'', are unusual in that the males lack large mandibles and do not produce "nuptial gifts".<ref name=Liu2015/> The [[antenna (biology)|antennae]] of males are also noticeably elongated, even longer than the mandibles.

[[Corydalinae]] is distinguished from closely related [[clades]] by the following [[synapomorphies]] (with exceptions in a few species): quadrate head with a postocular spine, ridge, and plane, non-pectinate antennae, four crossveins between the radius and the radial sector, and distinctive male terminalia with a well developed ninth [[gonostylus]].<ref name=sl/>

In regards to the larvae, [[entomologist]] [[John Henry Comstock]] wrote in his 1897 book Insect Life,<ref name=jhc>Comstock, John Henry (1897). Insect Life. Cornell University Library. Online.</ref> "In spite of its disagreeable appearance it is in some respects very interesting to students of Nature study." The larvae, commonly called hellgrammites, are perhaps better known than the adults due to their more readily findable nature. They are unusual in that although they are generally aquatic, taking in dissolved [[oxygen]] through abdominal lateral filaments and [[tracheal gills]], they also have [[Spiracle (arthropods)|spiracles]] that allow them to take in air directly when above water.<ref name=cr1997>Contreras-Ramos, Atilano. ''Corydalus''. Tree of Life Web Project. November 15, 1997.</ref>

Larvae of dobsonflies differ from those of their sister clade, the [[alderflies]], in that they bear eight pairs of lateral processes as well as anal [[prolegs]] with a pair of terminal hooks used to hold themselves to substrate, and also in that they lack a [[terminal filament]].<ref name=bt>Borror, Donald; Triplehorn, Charles; and Norman Johnson. An Introduction to the Study of Insects. 6th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1989. 358-363.</ref> At the end of the abdomen is a pair of claw-like structures. Body color is black or dark brown.