EPT List for Central Virginia, 2017

Not yet -- but pretty soon we'll see those beautiful colors of autumn.

Since readers on occasion look at the EPT list that I posted in 2012, I thought I should probably update that list in this entry.    Included are additions and corrections, and in some cases taxa names have been changed by entomologists.  Also included are taxa I've seen but others have found all duly noted.  As I did for awhile with the entry of 2012, I will try to go back to this list and make changes as they occur: I'll note such changes in future postings.  Please be clear that this is not an "official" list of EPT taxa that are here; it's a list of the taxa that I've found, including some things that have been found by my friends.

                   EPT Species List for Central Virginia

                   (Albemarle, Greene, Madison, Fluvanna)

                 

I. Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

1. Ameletidae

1. Ameletus lineatus

2. Baetidae (Small minnow mayflies)

1. Acentrella nadineae

2. Acentrella turbida

3. Baetis flavistriga

4. Baetis intercalaris

5. Baetis pluto

6. Baetis tricaudatus

7. Heterocloeon curiosum

8. Heterocloeon amplum

9. Heterocloeon petersi

10. Iswaeon anoka

11. Labiobaetis propinquus

12. Plauditus dubius

3. Isonychiidae (Brushlegged mayflies)

1. Isonychia sp. (bicolor? probably more than one species)

4. Heptageniidae (Flatheaded mayflies)

1. Cinygmula subaequalis

2. Epeorus pleuralis

3. Epeorus vitreus

4. Epeorus fragilis

5. Heptagenia marginalis

6. Leucrocuta hebe

7. Leucrocuta sp.

8. Leucrocuta aphrodite

9. Leucrocuta thetis

10. Maccaffertium ithaca

11. Maccaffertium merririvulanum

12. Maccaffertium pudicum

13. Maccaffertium vicarium

14. Maccaffertium modestum

15. Rhithrogena sp. (at least two species have been found; one appears to be exilis)

16. Stenacron carolina

17. Stenacron interpunctatum

5.  Ephemerellidae (Spiny crawler mayflies)

1. Drunella cornutella

2. Drunella tubercula

3. Drunella walkeri

4. Ephemerella dorothea

5. Ephemerella invaria

6. Ephemerella subvaria

7. Eurylophella verisimilis

8. Eurylophella funeralis (found by DB)

9. Eurylophella sp. (minimella?) (found by DB)

10. Serratella serratoides

11. Serratella serrata

12. Teloganopsis deficiens

6. Baetiscidae (Armored mayflies)

1. Baetisca berneri

7. Caenidae

(I saw a lot of Caenidae when I was with StreamWatch: not a one since then.  I hope to correct this so I can determine genus and species.)

8. Leptohyphidae (Little stout crawler mayflies)

1. Tricorythodes

9. Leptophlebiidae (Pronggilled mayflies)

1. Neoleptophlebia assimilis

2. Paraleptophlebia guttata

3. Paraleptophlebia sp.  (jeanae?)

4. Paraleptophlebia strigula

5. Habrophlebia vibrans

6. Leptophlebia sp.

10. Ephemeridae (Common burrower mayflies)

1. Ephemera guttalata

II. Plecoptera (Stoneflies)

1. Capniidae (Small winter stoneflies)

1. Allocapnia sp. (pygmaea?)

2. Paracapnia angulata

2. Leuctridae (Needleflies)

1. Leuctra sp.

3. Nemouridae (Forestflies)

1. Amphinemura delosa

2. Prostoia completa

3. Soyedina sp.(carolinensis?)

4. Taeniopterygidae (Large winter stoneflies)

1. Strophopteryx fasciata

2. Taenionema atlanticum

3. Taeniopteryx burksi/maura

5.  Chloroperlidae (Green stoneflies)

1. Alloperla sp.

2. Haploperla brevis

3. Sweltsa sp.

6. Peltoperlidae (Roach-like stoneflies)

1. Peltoperla sp.

2. Tallaperla sp.

3. Viehoperla sp. (found by DB)

7. Perlidae (Common stoneflies)

1. Acroneuria abnormis (brown)

2. Acroneuria abnormis (patterned)

3. Acroneuria carolinensis

4. Acroneuria sp. (possibly internata, possibly a variety of abnormis)

5. Acroneuria arenosa

6. Acroneuria lycorias

7. Agnetina annulipes

8. Agnetina capitata

9. Agnetina flavescens

10. Eccoptura xanthenses

11. Neoperla sp. (clymene?)

12. Paragnetina immarginata

13. Paragnetina fumosa

14. Perlesta sp. (various species)

8. Perlodidae (Springflies and Stripetails)

1. Clioperla clio

2. Diploperla duplicata

3. Helopicus subvarians

4. Isogenoides hansoni

5. Isoperla dicala

6. Isoperla holochlora (light form)

7. Isoperla holochlora (dark form)

8. Isoperla latta/pseudolatta

9. Isoperla kirchneri group

   (probably both I. kirchneri and I. montana)

10. Isoperla similis/prosimilis group

11. Isoperla davisi

12. Isoperla orata

13. Isoperla orata (variant form)

14. Isoperla sp.VA

15. Malirekus hastatus

16. Rememus bilobatus

9. Pteronarcys (Giant stoneflies)

1. Pteronarcys biloba

2. Pteronarcys dorsata

3. Pteronarcys proteus

III. Trichoptera (Caddisflies)

1. Rhyacophilidae (Free-living caddisflies)

1. Rhyacophila carolina

2. Rhyacophlia fuscula

3. Rhyacophila nigrita

4. Rhyacophila glaberrima

5. Rhyacophila fenestra

6. Rhyacophila sp. (banksi?)

2. Glossosomatidae (Saddle-case makers)

1. Glossosoma nigrior

3. Philopotamidae (Fingernet caddisflies)

1. Chimarra sp.

2. Dolophilodes distincta

3. Wormaldia sp.

4. Polycentropodidae

1. Polycentropus sp.

5. Hydropsychidae (Common Netspinners)

1. Ceratopsyche alhedra

2. Ceratopsyche bronta

3. Ceratopsyche morosa

4. Ceratopsyche slossonae

5. Ceratopsyche sparna

6. Cheumatopsyche sp.

7. Diplectrona modesta

8. Diplectrona metaqui (found by DB)

9. Hydropsyche betteni

10. Hydropsyche rossi

11. Hydropsyche venularis

12. Macrostemum carolina

6. Brachycentridae (Humpless case-makers)

1. Adicrophleps hitchcocki

2. Brachycentrus appalachia

3. Micrasema wataga

4. Micrasema charonis

5. Micrasema bennetti

9. Lepidostomatidae

1. Lepidostoma sp. (at least 2 species, possibly more)

2. Theliopsyche sp.

10. Limnephilidae (Northern case-makers)

1. Pycnopsyche gentilis

2. Pycnopsyche scabripennis

3. Pycnopsyche luculenta

4. Pseudostenophalyx sparsus

11. Apataniidae

1. Apatania incerta

12. Goeridae

1. Goera calcarata

2. Goera fuscula

 13. Uenoidae

1. Neophylax oligius

2. Neophylax consimillis

3. Neophylax aniqua

4. Neophylax mitchelli

5. Neophylax fuscus

6. Neophylax concinnus

14. Leptoceridae (Long-horned case-makers)

1. Nectopsyche equisita

2. Ceraclea maculata
3. Oecetis avara

15. Odontoceridae (Strong case-makers)

1. Psilotreta labida

2. Psilotreta frontalis

3. Psilotreta rufa (found by DB)

16. Molannidae (Hooded-case maker)

1. Molanna blenda (found by DB)

17. Calamoceratidae (found by StreamWatch monitors)

1. Anisocentropus pyraloides

And yes, it was Pycnopsyche luculenta

On 7/10 I established the ID of a Pycnopsyche casemaker that, in the past, I had misidentified as P. scabripennis.   As it turns out it was P. luculenta.  I also suggested that the larva in the photo above was probably the very same thing, but it was no longer in my collection for me to confirm that conclusion.  Well, lo and behold,  I came across a vial yesterday in which this larva had been preserved.  It was in one of my large vials: the case of this larva was one of the longest I've ever seen, 58mm (2.3 inches).   Found on 5/6/12.

I've now examined the larva, and it was indeed Pycnopsyche luculenta.   Back to our key (Larvae of the Southeastern USA: Mayfly, Stonefly, and Caddisfly Species), pp. 394-397.

229  ...dorsal spacing hump on abdominal segment I absent or reduced to remnant occupying no more than about 1/8 of dorsal view: case cylindrical, constructed only of stones....230

229' ... dorsal spacing hump on abdominal segment I present and of normal size, occupying 1/4 of dorsal view (often collapsed, deflated, or retracted, evident only as a wrinkle or pucker); case cylindrical or depressed, constructed of plant materials or of sand or stones and often with plant materials.....231

The dorsal hump is very clear on this larva.

On to couplet 231.

231  Ventral margin of each hind femur with 3 or more major setae....232
231' Ventral margin of each hind femur usually with 2 major setae....233

Ours has 3-6 major setae.

232  Abdominal sternum I with 12-17 anterior (sa1) setae (mostly very small), 6-7 setae on each posteromesal (sa2) sclerite, and 6-8 setae on each lateral (sa3) sclerite; case circular in cross section and composed of quadrate plant parts; possibly cool springs or streams at higher elevations. ... Pycnopsyche divergens

232' Abdominal sternum I with 3-11 anterior (sa1) setae (mostly very small), 3-6 setae on each posteromesal (sa2) sclerite, and 2-6 setae on each lateral (sa3) sclerite; case depressed in cross section and with 1 or more long sticks along sides; streams ... Pycnopsyche luculenta (or P. sonso or P. pani, both in high elevation streams)

Our case is clearly that described in 232'.  What about all of those setae?  I see about 10 setae at the sa1 position; 3 on each of the sa2 sclerites (sorry, I know they don't show up clearly in my photos), and 3 on each of the lateral (sa3) sclerites.

So, luculenta, sonso or pani?  I have to go with P. luculenta.  This larva, like the other one noted in my previous posting, was found at relatively low elevation (500-600' ABSL) in a very small stream, this one, a tributary of the Moormans River.

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One final note,  the other larva that I thought could be P. luculenta, this one,

with a similar case, turned out to be P. scabripennis (only 2 major setae on the hind femora).  It was in a fair sized river (the Rapidan) where, to date, P. scabripennis is the only Limnephilid I've found.

Temporary housing or permanent shelter? Some unusual Lepidostomatidae cases

Yesterday, I was looking through some of the photos I've taken this year and was kind of struck when I saw this one.  That's a Lepidostomatid -- photo taken on 2/13 -- that is not a Lepidostomatid case.  You may recall that I ran into the very same thing three years ago (12/19/14) when I found this larva in one of our small streams in Sugar Hollow.  (See the entries of 12/19 and 12/21/14.)

At the time I pointed out that this type of case -- three-sided case made out of sections of bark or leaves -- is normally made by the Limnephilid casemaker Pycnopsyche gentilis.

Lepidostomatidae cases are normally made out of sand grains, or "they're four-sided and constructed of quadrate pieces of bark or leaf," (Glenn B. Wiggins, Larvae of the North American Caddisfly Genera, p. 156 in the 1977 edition), or a mix of the two.   For example...

Wiggins goes on to note that "Final instars in some other species assigned to Lepidostoma have cases of plant materials placed spirally or transversely."  In 2014 I thought that might explain what I had found, but there is reason to re-consider.  For one thing, the larva inside that case in 2014 was genus Theliopsyche, not Lepidostoma, and for another, the case that I found was not constructed of materials laid out spirally or transversely.   So what to make of these cases?  (I should also point out that known cases of Theliopsyche are made out of grains of sand.)

I contacted Steve Beaty.  While he didn't know the answer for certain, he suggested a number of things.  E.g., some caddisfly larvae, if they abandon their cases willingly or unwillingly, make a temporary case for protection while they make the type of case in which they're normally found.  (Interesting.  Did not know that.)  Or, it could be that the larva moved out of its own case and "borrowed" a Pycnopsyche case for awhile.  Or, this might be a case that's "typical" for one of the as yet unidentified Lepidostomatid species.   There are, by the way, 29 species of Lepidostoma in the southeast.  The larvae remain unassociated and therefore as yet undescribed.   (See Larvae of the Southeastern USA: Mayfly, Stonefly, and Caddisfly Species, p. 354.)

I decided to re-examine the larva I found in 2014 and quickly discounted the second solution.  While this cases resembles a Pycnopsyche case, it's much smaller.  It measured something like 10mm; Pycnopsyche cases are normally closer to 20.  That leaves us with the other two possibilities: either it's "temporary housing," or it's an unusual, but permanent, case of a Lepidostomatid larva that at this time is unknown.   That's about as far as we can go.

I should also be clear that while I can vouch for the identity of the 2014 larva  -- genus Theliopsyche -- I didn't keep the larva that I found this year.  Could have been Theliopsyche, could also have been Lepidostoma -- which raises even more questions.
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Theliopsyche and Lepidostoma differ in the size of the ventral apotomes and the length of the median ecdysial lines.  They look like this.

A new look at Leucrocuta

The new book on EPT of the southeast -- Larvae of the Southeastern USA: Mayfly, Stonefly, and Caddisfly Species (Clemson, 2017) -- provides us with a new key on the species of the flatheaded mayfly, genus Leucrocuta, so we can re-examine, with benefit, the four nymphs that we've found in local streams.  The ID's that I've arrived at to date are L. hebe, L. thetis, L. aphrodite, and L. juno, that by using three different sources: 1) the key provided in Unzicker and Carlson, "Ephemeroptera" in Aquatic Insects and Oligochaetes of North and South Carolina (pp. 3.72-3.73, 1982),  2) photos provided on the website Discover Life (http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Leucrocuta), and 3) Knopp and Cormier's  Mayflies: An Angler's Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera (pp. 149-152). Let's see how those ID's hold up.

1. Leucrocuta hebe.

I just posted about this ID on 9/7,  no need to repeat what I've already said.  This keys out as L. hebe in all of my sources, including the new key.  (Also, look at the photo on Discover Life -- http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Leucrocuta+hebe."  The ID seems firm.

2. Leucrocuta thetis.  (pictured here and at the top of the page)

Let's begin with the key in Unzicker and Carlson (p. 3.72).  "Trachea of gills indistinct; pale markings on dorsum of abdominal segments 7 and 8 not coalesced; head without pale spots along frontal margin; lateral dark streaks present only on venter of abdominal segment 9."

All true, though I can't discount a bit of a dark streak on venters 8 and 10.  Now here's what the new key has to say.  "Gills darkened in upper half above midline of gill, with darkening sometimes extending over apex on both sides; abdominal tergum 9 brown; marginal pale areas on head present or absent." (p. 108)  Yes, tergum 9 is brown, and in this case pale areas on the head margin are not present.  Are the gills darkened in the "upper half above [the] midline of the gill"?  Yes!  But the darkening does slip over the midline near the the pointed tip.

Think we can stick with the L. thetis ID.

3. Leucrocuta aphrodite.

Unzicker and Carlson described L. aphrodite like this: "Dark areas on femora usually more extensive than light areas; dark areas of posterolateral and anterolateral angles of venter of segment 9 complete or almost complete, forming a dark margin, not divided into posterior and anterior areas."

Well, no question about the femora, but that's as far as I can go since I don't have a specimen in my collection at the moment so I could look at the venter.   Knopp and Cormier claim that "tergites 9-10 [are] paler," which I don't see.  Rather, the pale spots I normally see are on terga 1, 7, and 8 and a little on 9, as on this nymph.

Not sure where I got my ID, though I can say that other photos I've found of L. aphrodite match up with mine. (http://bugguide.net/node/view/1356607, and http://bugguide.net/node/view/1357415)  How about our new key?  Actually, this confirms our ID more than previous sources.  We get to L. aphrodite by moving from "gills without distinct tracheation" to "gills with distinct tracheation [and] "pale marginal areas present on head" (from couplet 195 to 197).  The alternative to 197 (i.e. 197') is "Head with pair of oblique dark bars between compound eyes; abdominal terga 2-9 with posterior margins with pair of purple-black transverse lines extending sublaterally...."  the description goes on, but it clearly doesn't apply.  We follow 197.  (197', by the way, leads to L. minerva, a species I haven't seen.)

Couplet 197 leads us to a long paragraph on Leucrocuta aphrodite, L. hebe, L. maculipennis, and L. juno in which we find the following note applying to L. aphrodite: "L. aphrodite and L. hebe may have a pale medial V-shaped area on abdominal terga 7, 8, and most of the medial length of 9, or on tergum 9, three connected or unconnected pale spots."  (p. 110)

Well, it's a bit of a stretch to say those markings are "V's" on terga 8 and 9, but for me that's close enough given everything else that we've seen.

I'm satisfied with L. aphrodite.  Three for three on our ID's.

4. Leucrocuta juno.

Same insect in various stages of development.   Once again, let's start with Unzicker and Carlson (pp. 3.72-3.73).  "Gills heavily shaded with purplish-black with paler areas at extreme tip, on median space next to main trachea, and near base of outer margin; dark markings at anterior margin of sternites 8 and 9, in median."

Okay on the gills, but I can't see any "dark markings at [the] anterior margin of sternites 8 and 9, in median."  So, not a whole lot to go on.  However, the nymphs in the photos above do match the L. juno nymph pictured  on Discover Life (http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Leucrocuta+juno).

But this time our ID is not confirmed in our new book.  Let me quote what we find there on L. juno: "Diagnostics for the L. juno larva are unknown.  It is unclear if larvae have been accurately associated with identifiable male adults, and thus the larva only is assumed to be similar to this grouping (i.e, the grouping of L. aphrodite, L. hebe, and L. maculipennis, and L. juno), and according to previous keys, to L. maculipennis in particular."   Actually, the nymphs that I've found -- those I've been calling L. juno -- key out pretty well to what our new book labels Leucrocuta sp. 1 (p. 108).   "Gills darkened along midline on both sides, then becoming infuscated, more so in the upper half of gill; abdominal terga, including 9, with extensive pale areas medially; marginal pale areas not present on head."  Yes indeed, the gills are dark on both sides of the midline this time, turning blackish toward the margins, and there are "extensive pale areas medially, on the terga" (though much smaller on segments 8 and 9.

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L. hebe, L. thetis, L. aphrodite, and possibly L. sp.1 -- that's where things stand at the moment.  One final note, I suspect that the tolerance values will differ by species if anyone gets around to working that out.  I've found L. hebe in medium streams to large rivers -- the Doyles, Buck Mt. Creek, and the Rivanna to be specific -- L. aphrodite, to date, I've only seen in Buck Mt. Creek.  L. thetis and L. sp.1 (if that's what it is), on the other hand I've only seen in the high quality small mountain streams in Sugar Hollow.