Protohermes

Protohermes is a genus of dobsonflies in the family Corydalidae. Protohermes is the most speciose and widely distributed genus within Megaloptera, but up to 85% of species are restricted to small endemic areas in Asia. This endemism may be a result of an association with high elevation and high slope streams in Northern Vietnam and China.

Description

Adult Protohermes generally have yellow coloration with white spots on the wings. The male genitalia are diverse across the genus and can be useful only for species-level identification, especially the shape and size of the tenth tergum and the subgenital plate at the ninth sternum. Nuptial gifts in Protohermes may as large as 20% of the total body mass of the male and can require up to 2 days to recover before mating again.

The size and phenology of larvae is closely tied to the availability of different sizes of prey. Dwarfism occurs in populations on islands and peninsulas as a result of fewer species of large prey, and maturation may be synchronous with prey in locations with seasonal variability. Larger larvae do not consume smaller prey, and they actively select prey as an ambush predator. Larvae are motionless 90% of the time during the day, but do change position on the stream bed during the night.

Taxonomy

Protohermes contains the following species:

Protohermes acutatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes albipennis (Walker, 1853)
Protohermes arunachalensis Ghosh, 1991
Protohermes assamensis Kimmins, 1949
Protohermes axillatus NavÃÂ¡s, 1932
Protohermes basimaculatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes bellulus Banks, 1931
Protohermes burmanus X.-y. Liu & DvoÃÂÃÂ¡k, 2017
Protohermes cangyuanensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988
Protohermes cavaleriei NavÃÂ¡s, 1925
Protohermes changninganus C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988
Protohermes chebalingensis X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006
Protohermes concolorus C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988
Protohermes congruens X.-y. Liu et al., 2009
Protohermes costalis (Walker, 1853)
Protohermes costatostriatus (van der Weele, 1907) (=Neurhermes)
Protohermes curvicornis X.-y. Liu et al., 2013
Protohermes davidi van der Weele, 1909
Protohermes decemmaculatus (Walker, 1860)
Protohermes decolor NavÃÂ¡s, 1931
Protohermes dichrous (Brauer, 1878)
Protohermes differentialis (C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1986) (=Neurhermes)
Protohermes dimaculatus C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988
Protohermes disjunctus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes dulongjiangensis X.-y. Liu et al., 2010
Protohermes festivus NavÃÂ¡s, 1932
Protohermes flavinervus X.-y. Liu et al., 2009
Protohermes flavipennis NavÃÂ¡s, 1929
Protohermes flinti X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes fruhstorferi (van der Weele, 1907)
Protohermes fujianensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1999
Protohermes furcatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2008
Protohermes goodgeri X.-y. Liu et al., 2013
Protohermes grandis (Thunberg, 1781)
Protohermes guangxiensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1986
Protohermes gutianensis D. Yang & C.-k. Yang, 1995
Protohermes hainanensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1990
Protohermes horni NavÃÂ¡s, 1932
Protohermes hubeiensis D. Yang & C.-k. Yang, 1992
Protohermes hunanensis D. Yang & C.-k. Yang, 1992
Protohermes immaculatus Kuwayama, 1964
Protohermes impunctatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2008
Protohermes infectus (McLachlan, 1869)
Protohermes ishizukai X.-y. Liu et al., 2009
Protohermes karubei X.-y. Liu et al., 2013
Protohermes latus X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006
Protohermes lii X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes maculiferus (Walker, 1853) (=Neurhermes)
Protohermes maculipennis (G. Gray in Cuvier, 1832) (=Neurhermes)
Protohermes montanus (McLachlan, 1869)
Protohermes motuoensis X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006
Protohermes niger C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988
Protohermes nigerescens (X.-y. Liu et al., 2015) (=Neurhermes)
Protohermes ohli X.-y. Liu et al., 2013
Protohermes orientalis X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes owadai X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes parcus C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988
Protohermes pennyi X.-y. Liu et al., 2009
Protohermes piaoacanus X.-y. Liu et al., 2008
Protohermes sabahensis X.-y. Liu et al., 2008
Protohermes selysi (van der Weele, 1909) (=Neurhermes)
Protohermes similis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988
Protohermes sinensis D. Yang & C.-k. Yang, 1992
Protohermes sinuolatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2009
Protohermes sonus X.-y. Liu et al., 2013
Protohermes spectabilis X.-y. Liu et al., 2008
Protohermes stangei X.-y. Liu & Dobosz, 2019
Protohermes stigmosus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes striatulus NavÃÂ¡s, 1926
Protohermes sublunatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2013
Protohermes subnubilus Kimmins, 1949
Protohermes subparcus X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2006
Protohermes sumatrensis (van der Weele, 1909) (=Neurhermes)
Protohermes tenellus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes tonkinensis (van der Weele, 1909) (=Neurhermes)
Protohermes tortuosus X.-y. Liu et al., 2008
Protohermes trapezius Li & X.-y. Liu, 2021
Protohermes triangulatus X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes uniformis Banks, 1931
Protohermes vitalisi NavÃÂ¡s, 1919
Protohermes walkeri NavÃÂ¡s, 1929
Protohermes weelei NavÃÂ¡s, 1925
Protohermes wuyishanicus Li & X.-y. Liu, 2021
Protohermes xanthodes NavÃÂ¡s, 1914
Protohermes xingshanensis X.-y. Liu & D. Yang, 2005
Protohermes yangi X.-y. Liu et al., 2007
Protohermes yunnanensis C.-k. Yang & D. Yang, 1988
Protohermes zhuae X.-y. Liu et al., 2008

Some authors recognize species-group assemblages within the genus (e.g., ), and other authors treat the genus Neurhermes as valid (these species are marked above), but are generally treated as Protohermes.

Protohermes

Description

Taxonomy

References