Stoneflies - Plecoptera: Capniidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoIntroduction to the Capniidae
Winter Stoneflies, Snowfly, Slender Winter Stonefly, Small Winter Stoneflies
Updated 15 January 2026
TSN 102643
Provisional Species List
Capnia coloradensis
Capnia confusa
Capnia gracilaria
Capnia nana
Capnia vernalis
Eucapnopsis brevicauda
Isocapnia crinita
Isocapnia grandis
Utacapnia logana
Utacapnia poda
Field Notes
2007 - In the upper East River Valley near Gothic, adults were seen in large numbers on the snow on the 18th of April.
2016 - Very common in the East River valley again in March and April
Local Research Results
Colorado has 21 species in the winter stonefly family Capniidae. Ten species have been found in the Gunnison Basin so far (Kondratieff and Baumann 2002).
Good Links
On this website:
Capnia Introduction
Other Websites:
Photos, Map, Taxon Identifier Numbers - from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Capniidae at GBIF
Photos, Map, Museums, DNA - Barcode of Life Data System
Discussion of winter stoneflies from the Xerces Society
References
Baumann,RW 1979 Nearctic stonefly genera as indicators of ecological parameters (Plecoptera: Insecta). The Great Basin Naturalist, 241-244. PDF
Quote from page 242:"Genera in the Capniidae often have species which occur in warm lotic habitats.
These species are only found in the nymph or adult stage during the cold winter months. They go into a diapause in the warm months, as noted by Khoo (1968). Several capniid species also occur in very northern arctic localities, where they emerge during late summer, when conditions are most favorable. Some species, including several members of the genus Capnia, are found in lakes at high altitudes and seem to emerge and complete their life cycle when the ice breaks. Only one species, Capnia lacustra Jewett (Nebeker and Gaufin), is strictly confined to a lotic habitat (Frantz and Cordone 1966)."
Baumann,RW, Gaufin,AR and Surdick,RF 1977 The stoneflies (Plecoptera) of the Rocky Mountains. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 31, 1-208. PDF
Quote from page 56: "The members of this family are small, black stoneflies, mostly less than 12 millimeters in length, whose wings lie flat when at rest. Reduction in wing length is quite common, especially in the males with brachypterous, micropterous and apterous species represented.
Capniidae can be separated in the adult stage from the other families in the Nemouroideae by the presence of long many segmented cerci.
Most species emerge in the winter or early spring which is why they are called the "winter stoneflies." The emerging adults can be extremely abundant in February and they are often found crawling over the snow or on bridge abutments in profusion. "
Cummins,KW; Wilzbach,MA; Gates,DM; Perry,JB and Taliaferro,WB 1989 Shredders and riparian vegetation. BioScience, 39(1), pp.24-30. PDF
Hanson,JF 1946 Comparative morphology and taxonomy of the Capniidae (Plecoptera). American Midland Naturalist 35(1) 193-249 PDF
Harper,PP; Lauzon,M; Harper,F 1991 Life cycles of 12 species of winter stoneflies from Quebec (Plecoptera, Capniidae and Taeniopterygidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 69 (3) 787-796.
Jacobi,GZ and Cary,SJ 1996 Winter stoneflies (Plecoptera) in seasonal habitats in New Mexico, USA. Journal of the North American Benthological Society (15) 4, 690-699. Abstract
Kondratieff and Baumann 2002 A review of the stoneflies of Colorado with description of a new species of Capnia (Plecoptera: Capniidae) Transactions of the North American Entomological Society. 128(4)385-401.
Nebeker,AV and Gaufin,AR 1967 Geographic and seasonal distribution of the family Capniidae of Western North America (Plecoptera). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 40(3) 415-421. Abstract and first page
Nelson,RC; Baumann,RW 1989 Systematics and distribution of the winter stonefly genus Capnia (Plecoptera: Capniidae) in North America. Great Basin Naturalist (49) 289-363. PDF
Nelson,RC and Kondratieff,BC 1988 A new species of Capnia (Plecoptera: Capniidae) from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Entomological News 99 2, 77-80.
Short,RA and Ward,JV 1981 Trophic ecology of three winter stoneflies (Plecoptera). American Midland Naturalist 105, 341-347.
Stanford,JA and Ward,JV 1988 The hyporheic habitat of river ecosystems. Nature, 335(6185), pp.64-66. PDF
Stewart,KW and Zeigler,DD 1984 Drumming behavior of twelve North American stonefly (Plecoptera) species: First descriptions in Peltoperlidae, Taeniopterygidae and Chloroperlidae. Aquatic Insects. 6(1) 49 - 61.
Abstract: "Previously unreported drumming signals of 11 species in the families Peltoperlidae, Taeniopterygidae, Capniidae, Perlodidae and Chloroperlidae are described, and signals of a 12th species, Isogenoides zionensis, are further described. Drumming in four Soliperla species was of two basic types; the diphasic male calls and long first-phase beat intervals of S. fenderi were in marked contrast to monophasic call and shorter beat intervals of other males. Females of three Soliperla would drum without a male call. The Taeniopteryx nivalis signals were generally similar to two other known Taeniopteryx in: (1) monophasic nature of the male call, and (2) number of beats in the male call, female answer and male response. Beat intervals were distinctly different from other species at comparable temperatures. Calliperla luctuosa male calls were arranged in a series of one- or two-beat groupings, a pattern basically similar to several other Perlodidae. Drumming of Isogenoides zionensis is the most complex known in the Plecoptera. Male-female exchanges began as interspersed signals, then changed to sequenced 3-way signals. During the interspersed portion male calls consisted of 11 beats in 3-4 groupings, within which the female answer was spaced. Both chloroperlids, Kathroperla perdita and Paraperla frontalis, had di-phasic male calls, with 6.1 ± 0.7 and 74 ± 10.6 beats, respectively, in the first phases, and with distinctly different beat intervals. Males of other species analyzed included Isocapnia grandis, Helopicus nalatus and Isogenoides elongatus."
Zwick,P 2006 New family characters of larval Plecoptera, with an analysis of the Chloroperlidae: Paraperlinae. Aquatic Insects, 28:13-22.
Abstract: "Larval structures diagnostic of several Plecoptera families, subfamilies or genera are described and illustrated. They concern the following: distinction of larval Leuctridae from Capniidae; an additional apomorphy of Nemouridae; a synapomorphy of Perlidae and Perlodidae; monophyly of each of the two subfamilies of Chloroperlidae, and the generic limits among Chloroperlidae: Paraperlinae. Paraperla lepnevae Zhiltzova is transferred to Utaperla. Some comments on Notonemouridae are included."
Brown,WS 2004 Plecoptera or Stoneflies of Gunnison County, Colorado
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