Plecoptera: Perlidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoClaassenia sabulosa (Banks)Updated 5 June 2010
TSN 102932 HabitatNymphs are found under stones in swift riffles where food is abundant in streams and rivers throughout the county.Life HistorySemivoltine, 2 -3 year life cycle, present at 3000m and lower. More common at lower elevations.Fuller and Stewart (1977) noted C. sabulosa emerges from August to September in the Gunnison River at the Lost Canyon Resort. Nymphs born in October ate whatever was available in the stream. As they grew, they became more selective in their diets. From May to September nymphs selected Chironomids and had a small amount of detritus in their guts. By August they were exclusively carnivorous. Larger nymphs entering their second year ate caddiflies randomly in October and did not eat Chironomid larvae. Their diet was unchanged by the following May. In their second summer, large nymphs consistently selected Chironomids and Mayflies. Large nymphs collected in December had empty guts. Richardson and Gaufin (1971) found this species is highly carnivorous. Guts contained 91% animal matter. They macerate their prey with well developed mouthparts making identification of gut contents more difficult. Ephemeroptera, Simuliidae, Chironomidae, and Trichoptera larvae were found in their guts. Some guts contained animals swallowed whole, making identification easier. Baetidae and Heptageniidae were common and Ephemerella sp. were also found. Plecoptera nymphs were not common, but when found comprised a large portion of the gut. Locations CollectedCement Creek, Lake Fork of the Gunnison, Gunnison River at Soap Creek, Gunnison River at the Lost Canyon Resort, Cebolla CreekNotesOlder publications may refer to this species as Perla sabulosa.Good LinksOn this website:Perlidae Introduction Other Websites:
ReferencesAlexander,Kevin D; Stewart,Kenneth W (1996): Description and theoretical considerations of mate finding and other adult behaviors in a Colorado population of Claassenia sabulosa (Plecoptera: Perlidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 89(2), 290-296.Alexander,KD; Stewart,KW 1997a: Furthur considerations of mate searching behavior and communication in adult stoneflies (Plecoptera); first report of tremulation in Suwallia (Chloroperlidae). In: Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera: Biology-Ecology-Systematics. Eds: Landolt,P; Sartori,M MTL, Fribourg, 107-112. They observed adults on the banks of the Gunnison River in 1992 and 1993. They describe Claassenia sabulosa mating behavior as being nocturnal and groundscambling. The males emerge and start running around on the stones at the rivers edge and across the water to new stones looking for females. When they find a female, they usually mate immediately. Sometimes the males drum on the stones, but the females probably cannot hear or feel them. Allan,J David 1982 Feeding habits and prey consumption of three setipalpian stoneflies (Plecoptera) in a mountain stream. Ecology 63(1), 26-34. Abstract Banks, N. 1900 New genera and species of Nearctic Neuropteroid Insects. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 26:239-259. Described as Perla sabulosa. 
Baumann,RW; Gaufin,AR; Surdick,RF 1977 The stoneflies (Plecoptera) of the Rocky Mountains. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 31, 1-208. Quote from page 164: "The genus Claassenia is represented in the Nearctic by one species which is distributed in western North America and east in Canada to the Hudson Bay. Males lack processes on abdominal terga one to nine, contrary to the other members of the Perlinae (fig. 467). The ninth sternum bears a large oval hammer. The subgenital plate of the female is not produced (fig 468). The nymphal occiput is charaterized by a regularly spaced, complete spinule row (fig. 22). The pronotum is fringed laterally with short, peg-like spines." Quote from page 165: "This species is a top carnivore and the mature nymphs are extremely active. It emerges from June to September. " Clements,WH 1999 Metal tolerance and predator-prey interactions in benthic macroinvertebrate stream communities. Ecological Applications 9, 1073-1084. DeWalt,R Edward; Stewart,Kenneth W (1995): Life histories of stoneflies (Plecoptera) in the Rio Conejos of southern Colorado. Great Basin Naturalist 55, 1-18. Fuller,RL; Stewart,K,W 1977 The food habits of stoneflies (Plecoptera) in the Upper Gunnison River, Colorado. Environmental Entomology 6, 293-302. Fuller,RL and Stewart,KW 1979 Stonefly (Plecoptera) Food habits and prey preference in the Dolores River, Colorado. American Midland Naturalist, 101(1) 170-181. First page Hassage,RL and Stewart,KW 1990 Growth and voltinism of five stonefly species in a New Mexico mountain stream. The Southwestern Naturalist, 35 (2)130-134. Abstract and first page Kondratieff,BC; Baumann,RW 2002 A review of the stoneflies of Colorado with description of a new species of Capnia (Plecoptera: Capniidae). Transactions of American Entomological Society 128 3, 385-401. Quoted from page 395: "The beautifully patterned nymph of this species can be abundant in many medium to large Mountain and Plateau streams. The brachyterous males can be found under loose stones along the edges or moving from rock to rock, searching for females at night. DeWalt and Stewart (1995) presented the life history of this species in Colorado, and Alexander and Stewart (1996) discussed the adult biology." Richardson,JW; Gaufin,AR 1971 Food habits of some western stonefly nymphs. Transactions of American Entomological Society 97, 91-121. Sanders,HO and Cope,OB 1968 The relative toxicities of several pesticides to naiads of three species of stoneflies. Limnology and Oceanography 13(1) 112-117. First page Shepard, WD. and Stewart KW 1983 Comparative Study of Nymphal Gills in North American Stonefly Genera and a New, Proposed Paradigm of Plecoptera Gill Evolution. Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 13:1-57 Illustration of nymphal osmobranchiae and gills on page 42. Stark,BP; Gaufin,AR 1976 The nearctic genera of Perlidae (Plecoptera). Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 10, 1-80. Stewart,KW; Stark,BP 2002: Nymphs of North American Stonefly Genera. 2nd edition The Caddis Press, Columbus, Ohio. 510 pages. Illustration of nymph (from the Gunnison River in Gunnison County!) habitus on pages 333-334 figure 13.13-13.14 Stewart,KW and Szczytko,SW 1983 Drift of Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera in two Colorado rivers. Freshwater Invertebrate Biology. 2(3)117-131. PDF The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment Data Warehouse (NAWQA) shows this species is present in Gunnison County. Data as of 1Sep2005 Ward,JV; Kondratieff,BC; Zuellig,RE 2002 An Illustrated Guide to the Mountain Stream Insects of Colorado. 2nd ed. University Press of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. 219 pages. Illustration of C. sabulosa nymph on page 71, figure 31. Illustrations
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