Discovery of flower‐visiting fishflies: Adult Neochauliodes amamioshimanus (Megaloptera: Corydalidae) nocturnally forages on Schima wallichii ssp. noronhae trees

Abstract

AbstractIn the Megaloptera (alderflies, dobsonflies, and fishflies), a small taxon usually known for being aquatic insects, the bionomics of terrestrial adults in natural habitats remains largely unexplored. Here, we report the flower‐visiting habits of the adult nocturnal fishfly Neochauliodes amamioshimanus on Amami Island, the central Ryukyus, Japan. Field observations and examination of fishfly excrement revealed that the fishfly species routinely visits the carpenter bee‐pollinated tree Schima wallichii ssp. noronhae for pollen. For adults, pollen is probably an important food source because the excrement samples from both sexes frequently contained pollen. Furthermore, the intrafloral behavior suggested that flower‐visiting individuals also ingest nectar. Although some alderfly species have been presumed to visit flowers for food ingestion, the present study is the first to fully document floral resource utilization by megalopterans in natural habitats. We also discuss whether the fishfly species serves as a supplementary pollinator for the trees while foraging at night.