Yellow-legged Aleocharine vs Giant Dobsonfly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Yellow-legged Aleocharine Giant Dobsonfly
Scientific Name Aleochara curtula Acanthacorydalis fruhstorferi
Order Coleoptera Megaloptera
Family Staphylinidae Corydalidae
Size 5-8 mm 60-90 mm body, 210 mm wingspan
Habitat Farmland Rivers & Streams
Diet Predators Predators
Regions Europe, Asia Asia
Conservation Least Concern Data Deficient

Yellow-legged Aleocharine

A medium-sized aleocharine rove beetle whose larvae are parasitoids of fly pupae, a rare strategy among beetles. Adults are predators at carrion and dung where they also lay eggs.

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Did You Know?

The larva enters a fly pupa, consumes the developing fly inside, and completes its own metamorphosis within the empty puparium.

Giant Dobsonfly

The largest aquatic insect in the world by wingspan, found in streams in Vietnam and China. Males have enormous mandibles resembling reindeer antlers.

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Did You Know?

With a wingspan of 21 cm, this is the worlds largest aquatic insect — its bizarre mandibles resemble reindeer antlers and are used exclusively for grappling rival males.