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Plecoptera: Pteronarcyidae of Gunnison County, Colorado

Pteronarcella badia Least Salmonfly

(Hagen) 1874
Updated 15 Jan 2010
TSN 102486

Habitat

Slow areas of streams and rivers in debris such as leaf packs.

Life History

P. badia has one generation per year (univoltine) with peak emergence in late June in the Gunnison River at Lost Canyon Resort (Fuller and Stewart 1977). Fuller and Stewart noted P. badia had a diet high in detritus, with large quantities of moss in the winter and spring months. Small nymphs appeared in September and fed primarily on detritus. The desmid Cosmarium was abundant in the river and guts in September and October. Diatoms were 11 and 15% of nymphs diet in September and October respectively. It appears P. badia uses conditioned fall leaf debris in the fall thru winter and eats more mosses right before emergence. Richardson and Gaufin 1971 noted this species is primarily herbivorous. P. badia ate higher plant and mosses in the Lake Fork of the Gunnison. Diatoms were also found in the guts. Specimens collected in the spring ate mostly Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera, some ate Chironomids. They change diets when plant material is unavailable. P. badia distributions overlap with Pteronarcys californica and their diets are similar, however P. californica is more omnivorous.

Locations Collected

Lake Fork of the Gunnison, Gunnison River at the Lost Canyon Resort, Cement Creek, Agate Creek, Sapinero Creek

Notes

Older publications may refer to this species as Pteronarcys badia.

Links

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/543.htm

  • Reintroduction to the Logan River, Utah http://www1.usu.edu/buglab/projects/project%20Salmonfly.htm

    • Photo of Nymph from the Tree of Life
    http://tolweb.org/tree/eukaryotes/animals/arthropoda/hexapoda/plecoptera/slideshows/pleco2/sld023.htm

    PAN Pesticides database: http://www.pesticideinfo.org/List_AquireAll.jsp?Species=79∓Effect=
         Unfortunately, P. badia finds most of the pesticides reviewed on this site "highly toxic".

    References

    Abbott, J.C. & K.W. Stewart 1993. Male search behavior of the stonefly, Pteronarcella badia (Hagen) (Plecoptera: Pteronarcyidae), in relation to drumming. Journal of Insect Behavior 6:467- 81 Pdf file (618Kb)

    Baumann, RW Gaufin, AR, Surdick, RF 1977 The stoneflies (Plecoptera) of the Rocky Mountains. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 31, 1-208.

    Colburn,T 1982 Measurement of low levels of molybdenum in the environment by using aquatic insects. 29, 422-428.

    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

    Hagen, HA, 1874 Report on the Pseudo-neuroptera and Neuroptera collected by Lieut. W.L. Carpenter in 1873 in Colorado. Annual Report of the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Teritories, embracing Colorado, 7: 571-577.
         Original description of this animal.


    Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) accessed 15 Jan 2010 http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/
    Cat. # Species Stream Location County State Country Date
    5596 Pteronarcella badia Agate Creek Sargents [Saguache/Gunnison] Colorado United States of America 7 June 1954
    5598 Pteronarcella badia Sapinero Creek Sapinero [Gunnison] Colorado United States of America 8 June 1954


    Kiffney,PM; Clements,WH 1993 Bioaccumulation of heavy metals by benthic invertebrates at the Arkansas River, Colorado. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 12, 1507-1517.
         Quote from page 1512: "Variation among taxa: Metal concentrations in organisms collected from station AR-5 [impacted by heavy metal pollution from California Gulch] (fall, spring, summer) varied significantly among taxa (Fig 7). The highest concentrations were generally found in the mayfly Baetis spp., the stonefly Pteronarcella badia, and the caddisfly Arctopsyche grandis, whereas the lowest levels were measured in the two predators, Skwala americana, and Rhyacophila spp."

    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.

    Needham,JG; Claassen,PW 1925 A Monograph of the Plecoptera of North America. Entomological Society of America, Lafayette, Indiana. 397 pages.
         Figure 11 at the top of this webpage is from this publication.


    Peckarsky,BL 1980 Influence of detritus on colonization of stream invertebrates. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 37, 957-963.

    Peckarsky,BL 1983 Biotic interactions or abiotic limitations? A model of lotic community structure. In: Dynamics of Lotic Ecosystems. Eds: Fontaine III,Thomas D; Bartell,Steven M Ann Arbor Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 303-323.

    Peckarsky,BL 1985 Do predaceous stoneflies and siltation affect the structure of stream insect communities colonizing enclosures? Canadian Journal of Zoology 63, 1519-1530.

    Peckarsky,BL; Dodson,SI 1980 Do stonefly predators influence benthic distributions in streams? Ecology 61(6) 1275-1282. Abstract

    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 nymph osmobranchiae (gills) on page 56.

    Stewart,KW; Stark,BP 2002 Nymphs of North American Stonefly Genera. 2nd edition The Caddis Press, Columbus, Ohio. 510 pages. Photo of nymph from above on page 111 figure 6.46. Illustrations of nymph on page 461-462, figures 15.1-15.2

    Stewart,KW; Szczytko,SW abd BP Stark 1982 Drumming behavior of four species of North American Pteronarcyidae (Plecoptera): dialects in Colorado and Alaska Pteronarcella badia. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 75:530-533.

    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

    Brown, Wendy S. 2004 Plecoptera or Stoneflies of Gunnison County, Colorado
    www.gunnisoninsects.org