(Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae)
of Gunnison County, ColoradoIntroduction to Alloperla Banks 1906
Updated 6 Oct 2011
Provisional Species List
Alloperla pilosa
Alloperla severa probably not present, see A. thalia below)
Alloperla thalia
Comparison
Description
Of the seven species of Alloperla in western North America, Gunnison County has two. "Adult Alloperla are distinguished from most other chloroperlid genera by their pale green or yellow body coloration, the lack of dark markings on the head and pronotum, and the reduced anal area of the hind wing with less than five anal veins" (Lyon and Stark 1997).
Good Links
On this website:
Key to Alloperla females
Key to Alloperla males
Other Websites:
Photo - Adult from the Tree of Life
http://tolweb.org/tree/eukaryotes/animals/arthropoda/hexapoda/plecoptera/slideshows/pleco1/sld033.htm
PAN Pesticides database: http://www.pesticideinfo.org/List_AquireAll.jsp?Species=2377&Effect=
References
Baumann,RW, Gaufin,AR and Surdick,RF 1977 The stoneflies (Plecoptera) of the Rocky Mountains. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 31, 1-208.
Quoted from page 167: "The adults of the genus Alloperla are bright green except for the yellow A. delicata. All but one species, A. pilosa, lack a dark abdominal stripe (fig 558). Some dusky patches may mark the head and pronotum, but they usually are free from dark coloring. In most species, the epiproct sonsists of a long curved rod-like base with a small process at the tip (fig 482)." They provide male and female keys as well as illustrations, geographic range, distribution and discussions for the 5 species of Alloperla found in the Rocky Mountains.
Baumann,RW and Kondratieff, BC 2008 The Alloperla severa complex (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae) of western North America. Illiesia 2008 4(6):66-75. PDF
The authors split A. severa into three species A. severa, A. elevata and A. thalia. A. severa is restricted to northern North America. Alloperla thalia is present in Colorado and may be the species we have been calling A. severa.
Frison, T.H. 1935 New North American species of the genus Alloperla (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 61:331-344.
Lyon,ML; Stark,BP 1997 Alloperla (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae) of western North America. Entomological News 108 5, 321-334.
They review all seven western species of Alloperla and present a key to adult males and females with eggs. They also provide descriptions and scanning electron micrographs of eggs and male epiprocts. Drawings of female subgenital plates are included.
Stewart,KW and Ricker,WE 1997 The stoneflies of the Yukon. pgs 201–222 in Danks,HV and Downes,JA (Eds.), Insects of the Yukon. Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods),
Ottawa. 1034 pp.
Quote from page 212: Eastern Palaearctic and Nearctic; 29 Nearctic species, only 7 of which are western, distributed from Kodiak Island, ALaska and Yukon to California and Wyoming. Adults yellow or light green, 6-12mm. Summer emergers, April in Mississippi to June-August in ALaska and Yukon. No detailed accounts of nymphal development, trophic dynamics or habitat partioning have been published.
Cerci of Nymph |
Epiproct of Male (the center thing is the epiproct, hooked up towards the viewer) |
Lacinia of Nymph mouth |
Pronotum of Nymph thorax |
Brown, Wendy S. 2004 Plecoptera or Stoneflies of Gunnison County, Colorado
www.gunnisoninsects.org
"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money." -- Cree Indian Proverb |