Fishflies can be found throughout much of eastern North America. Adults are generally found near the water that their aquatic larvae require. Various species of Fishflies may live in streams and rivers or in still ponds; some, reported from ephemeral ponds or streams, can survive a short dry spell if well-buried in wet mud.

The BugLady puts out oranges for the birds—orioles, house finches, catbirds, and several species of woodpeckers eat the pulp. The BugLady guesses that ants, flies and German yellowjackets and raccoons would be the first and most numerous guests at the table, but that some interesting stuff would come to the night-time table.

These prehistoric-looking insect, Green Lacewings and Fishflies are members of the Order Neuroptera, named for the network of veins in their wings. They have complete metamorphosis—egg to larva to pupa to adult—involving a complete change of appearance.