Stoneflies - Plecoptera: Capniidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoEucapnopsis brevicauda
Shorttailed Snowfly(Claassen) 1924
Updated 23 February 2024
TSN 102786
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Capniidae Introduction
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References
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 77: "This species is abundant in both creeks and rivers throughout its range. The adults emerge from February to July."
Claassen,PW 1924 New species of North American Capniidae (Plecoptera). Canadian Entomologist 56, 43-48, 54-57.
Duffield,RM and Nelson,CH 1998 Stoneflies (Plecoptera) in the diet of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis Mitchell) in Libby Creek, Wyoming, USA. Hydrobiologia 380, 59-65.
Quote from page 61, 63: "Eucapnopsis brevicauda absent from May samples, appeared in June, July, and August samples. At 6.3% of the total stonefly dietary component, this species was the third most abundant species recovered. In June samples, most specimens were larvae, wheras in July and August the specimens were adults. " The authors also note that most of the adults found in trout stomachs were females. This may be because they are vulnerable to predation by fish when they return to the water to lay their eggs.
Frison,TH 1937 II. Descriptions of Plecoptera with special reference to the Illinois species. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 21 3, 78-99.
Illustrations of Male front wing and genitalia and female abdominal sternites (Figure 73 on page 86).
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), pp.690-699.
Abstract: "Seasonal stream habitats in New Mexico supported 10 species of winter-emerging stoneflies. Winter precipitation in combination with low winter temperatures created a seasonal moisture surplus and seasonal streamflow in this semi-arid region. Study area streams were dry for long periods in spring and autumn. Two different types of seasonal (ahyporheic) habitats were identified. Small high mountain streams fed by seasonal snowmelt runoff (type M) were inhabited by Capnia decepta, Eucapnopsis brevicauda, Isocapnia vedderensis, Capnia californica, Capnura wanica, Mesocapnia werneri, Taenionema jacobii, and Capnura fibula. Mesocapnia arizonensis and M. frisoni seemed to specialize in low-elevation watercourses fed by winter rains and rising water tables (type L). Adaptations for survival during spring and autumn periods of no streamflow, desiccation, or flash flooding include small size, rapid development, and diapause during egg or larval stages."
Kondratieff,BC and 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 390: "This small brown to black stonefly emerges in late winter and early spring and can be locally abundant in many streams of the Mountain and Plateau region."
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
Newell,RL; Baumann,RW and Stanford,JA 2008 Stoneflies of Glacier National Park and Flathead River basin, Montana. International Advances in the ecology, zoogeography, and systematics of mayflies and stoneflies. University of California Publications in Entomology, Berkeley and Los Angeles, pp.173-186.
The authors note that E. brevicauda was the 5th most frequently recorded species out of the 100 different stonefly taxa they collected in their survey of Glacier National park and the Flathead basin in northwestern Montana.
Radford,DS and Hartland-Rowe,R 1971 Emergence patterns of some Plecoptera in two mountain streams in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 49(5), 657-662.
Stanford,JA and Ward,JV 1993 An ecosystem perspective of alluvial rivers: connectivity and the hyporheic corridor. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 48-60.
Stewart,KW and Ricker,WE 1997 The stoneflies of the Yukon. pgs 201-222 in Danks,HV and Downes,JA (Eds.), Insects of the Yukon. Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods),
Ottawa. 1034 pp.
Quote from page 207: "Japan and Western Neararctic; the single Nearactic species E. brevicauda, occurs in the west from Alaska and Yukon south to California and New Mexico. The small black adults emerge February-July in the Rocky Mountains and Yukon, depending on elevation and latitude. Nymphs yellowish brown, 4-6mm, in stream substrates. Univoltine, fast life cycle; small nymphs in diapause about 7 months from spring through summer, growing actively from autumn to emergence. "
Stewart,KW and Stark,BP 2002 Nymphs of North American Stonefly Genera. 2nd edition The Caddis Press, Columbus, Ohio. 510 pages. Illustrations of nymph on pages 130-131, figures 7.9-7.10
Ward,JV, Kondratieff,BC and 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 E. brevicauda nymph on page 69, figure 29.
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