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The taxonomy of Megaloptera from the Nearctic region is fairly well known and their faunal diversity has been largely surveyed, even in relatively remote regions. However, the evolutionary history of Nearctic Megaloptera is still poorly known with phylogenetic and biogeographic studies lacking. In this paper, we report a new fishfly species of the endemic North American genus Neohermes Banks, 1908, increasing the total number known of species to six. This new species (Neohermes inexpectatus sp. nov.) is currently known to occur only in California (USA) and is apparently confined to the Northern Coastal Range. The new species resembles the three Neohermes species from eastern North America based on the relatively small body size and the presence of female gonostyli 9. However, our phylogenetic analysis using adult morphological data recovered the new species as the sister species to the remaining Neohermes, which includes two species from western North America and three from eastern North America. According to the present interspecific phylogeny of Neohermes, with reconstructed ancestral areas, the initial divergence within the genus was found to take place in western North America, with a subsequent eastward dispersal. This likely lead to the modern distribution of Neohermes in eastern North America with the closure of the Mid-Continental Seaway, which separated western and eastern North America in the Mid-Late Cretaceous (100-80 MYA) and finally disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous (70 MYA). The uplift of the Cordilleran System probably accounted for the divergence between the eastern and two western Neohermes species.

The taxonomy of Megaloptera from the Nearctic region is fairly well known and their faunal diversity has been largely surveyed, even in relatively remote regions. However, the evolutionary history of Nearctic Megaloptera is still poorly known with phylogenetic and biogeographic studies lacking. In this paper, we report a new fishfly species of the endemic North American genus Neohermes Banks, 1908, increasing the total number known of species to six. This new species (Neohermes inexpectatus sp. nov.) is currently known to occur only in California (USA) and is apparently confined to the Northern Coastal Range. The new species resembles the three Neohermes species from eastern North America based on the relatively small body size and the presence of female gonostyli 9. However, our phylogenetic analysis using adult morphological data recovered the new species as the sister species to the remaining Neohermes, which includes two species from western North America and three from eastern North America. According to the present interspecific phylogeny of Neohermes, with reconstructed ancestral areas, the initial divergence within the genus was found to take place in western North America, with a subsequent eastward dispersal. This likely lead to the modern distribution of Neohermes in eastern North America with the closure of the Mid-Continental Seaway, which separated western and eastern North America in the Mid-Late Cretaceous (100-80 MYA) and finally disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous (70 MYA). The uplift of the Cordilleran System probably accounted for the divergence between the eastern and two western Neohermes species.

Several species of fishflies (Megaloptera: Corydalidae: Chauliodinae) have been reported from intermittent streams in western North America, but the life histories and distributions of these species are poorly understood. We studied the life history of Neohermes filicornis (Banks 1903) for 2 years in Donner Creek (Contra Costa County, California), a small intermittent stream that flows for 5–7 months per year. Neohermes filicornis had a 3–4-year life span and larval growth was asynchronous. Analysis of gut contents showed that larvae were generalist predators of aquatic insect larvae including Diptera, Ephemeroptera, and Plecoptera. Final instars dug pupal chambers in the streambed and began pupation within several days of stream drying. Dry conditions in 2007 resulted in stream drying 50 days earlier than in 2006, which was reflected in earlier pupation and adult emergence in 2007 than in 2006. Pupal and adult stages each lasted for 1–2 weeks. Although active burrowing into the dry streambed was not observed in the field, N. filicornis larvae initiated burrowing in response to simulated stream drying in laboratory experiments, while Orohermes crepusculus (Chauliodinae), a fishfly species common in perennial streams, did not exhibit burrowing behavior. We present new and historic collection records for Neohermes spp. in western North America. Neohermes filicornis is distributed in California, Arizona, western New Mexico, Baja California, and Sonora. A sister taxon, Neohermes californicus, has been collected in California, Oregon, and Idaho. In California, N. filicornis is primarily distributed in the Coast Range and mountains of Southern California, whereas N. californicus occurs in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, with possible range overlap at the northern and southern ends of the Central Valley. As a long-lived aquatic insect, N. filicornis exhibits considerable plasticity in the phenology of its life cycle and undergoes multiple episodes of larval dormancy in intermittent streams of western North America.

We report 15 species of Megaloptera from the Interior Highlands of Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma including 2 genera and 9 species of Sialidae and 4 genera and 6 species of Corydalidae. New state distributional records are reported for Protosialis americana (Rambur) from Illinois, Sialis joppa Ross and S. vagans Ross from Missouri, and Chauliodes pectinicornis (L.) and Nigronia serricornis (Say) from Oklahoma. Distributional and biological data are summarized for each species where available. An illustrated key to the species occurring in the Interior Highlands is included.

New distributional records (45) are recorded for fishflies in West Virginia. Thirteen new county records were added for Nigronia serricornis (Say), and 18 new county records were recorded for N. fasciatus (Walker). Eight new county records were added for Neohermes concolor (Davis), while six new county records were noted for Chauliodes pectinicornis (Linnaeus). Following this investigation, the statewide distribution of fishfly species is as follows: Nigronia serricornis (45 counties), N. fasciatus (37 counties), Neohermes concolor (10 counties), Chauliodes pectinicornis (19 counties), and C. rastricornis (3 counties). Tarter and Watkins (1974), Watkins, et al. (1975), and Dolin and Tarter (1981) have reported distributional records of fishflies for West Virginia. Tarter, et al. (1977) noted seasonal emergence patterns for fishflies in West Virginia. The main objective of this investigation is to report new county records of fishflies for West Virginia. Three eastern genera of fishflies, Chauliodes Latreille, Neohermes Banks, and Nigronia Banks, are placed in the subfamily Chauliodinae. Generally, larvae of lentic species, C. pectinicornis (Linnaeus) and C. rastricornis Rambur, are found in logs near ponds, swamps, lakes, and oxbows, whereas the larvae of lotic species, N. fasciatus (Walker) and N. serricornis (Say), are found under rocks in streams (Tarter, et al., 1976). Larvae of Neohermes concolor (Davis) are found under leaf litter near spring seeps (Tarter, et al., 1979). Larval and adult specimens examined for this investigation are deposited at the following institutions and agencies: West Virginia Benthological Survey (WVBS) at Marshall University, Huntington, WV; West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), Charleston, WV; and West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA), Charleston, WV.