pectinicornis has a wide distribution in the eastern United States, from Maine in the north-east to Alachua, Liberty and Santa Rosa counties in Florida to the south-east, and as far west as Kansas.
The summer fishfly, Chauliodes pectinicornis, is perhaps the best-known of these in North America; its immense mating swarms in the Upper Mississippi River region fill the air on a few summer nights each year much like mayflies in certain regions of Europe, leaving millions of carcasses to be cleaned up the next day.