Plecoptera: Perlodidae of Gunnison County, Colorado
Isoperla fulva Claassen 1937Western Stripetail
Updated 5 June 2010
TSN 103004
Habitat
Under stones in fast water of streams.
Life History
Richardson and Gaufin (1971) found their diet was approximately 70 percent animal matter and 30 percent plants. Ephemeroptera and Chironomidae nymphs were the most common. Terrestrial arthropods, Plecoptera nymphs, Trichoptera and Simuliidae larvae were also found. Specimens from Taylor River and West Elk Creek fed heavily on Simuliidae larve and to a lesser degree on Trichoptera Larvae.
Fuller and Stewart 1977 found that small nymphs in the Gunnison River at Lost Canyon Resort were phytophagous eating filamentous algae (48%, mostly Ulothrix), diatoms (16% mostly Fragilaria, Synedra and Cymbella) and detritus (28%). Animal matter was only 9% of their diet. Nymphs shifted to a 72% animal diet by December, eating Chironomidae and Ephemeroptera, while filamentous algae disappeared from their gut contents. Late instar nymphs ate primarily Chironomidae and a few Trichoptera larvae in May and by June ate Chironomid larve almost exclusively with a high electivity. There was no selection for larger Chironomids.
Sandberg and Stewart (2003) published sonograms of the monophasic call of an I. fulva male collected in Quartz Creek near Pitkin compared to ones collected in Umatilla County, Oregon. They discussed previous recordings of I. fulva with this data finding similarities in beat counts, intervals and total call duration, but noting enough differences to suggest the presence of stonefly drumming dialects over the North American range of this species.
Locations Collected
Taylor River, West Elk Creek, East Elk Creek, East River, Gunnison River at the Lost Canyon Resort. The Illinois Natural History Survey has a specimen in their data base from Agate Creek near Sargents on the 7th of June 1954.
Good Links
On this website:
Introduction to Isoperla
Key to Perlodidae Nymphs
Other Websites:
Map - Kondratieff, Boris C. and Richard W. Baumann (coordinators). 2000. Stoneflies of the United States. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online. (Version 12DEC2003).
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/insects/sfly/usa/452.htm
References
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 144: "This species is common in creeks and rivers throughout its range. The adults emerge from April to August."
Claassen,PW 1937 New species of stoneflies (Plecoptera). Canadian Entomologist 69, 79-82.
First description of this species.
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.
Quote from page 395: "This species can be abundant in medium to large-sized streams of the Mountain and Plateau regions, especially in the southern half of the state."
Richardson,JW; Gaufin,AR 1971 Food habits of some western stonefly nymphs. Transactions of American Entomological Society 97, 91-121.
Szczytko,SW; Stewart,KW 1979a The genus Isoperla (Plecoptera) of western North America; holomorphology and systematics, and a new stonefly genus Cascadoperla. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 32, 1-120.
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 I. fulva nymph on page 73, figure 33.
Sandberg,JB; Stewart,KW 2003: Continued studies of drumming in North American Plecoptera; Evolutionary implications. In: Research Update on Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera. Ed: Gaino,E University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy, 73-81.
Has the sonogram of an I. fulva monophasic call from Gunnison County.
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