Plecoptera: Nemouridae of Gunnison County, ColoradoIntroduction to Malenka - Spring stoneflyRicker, 1952Updated 24 March 2024
TSN 102567 Provisional Species ListMalenka californicaMalenka coloradensis Malenka flexura NotesThe genus Malenka was previously named Nemoura.Good LinksOn this website:Introduction to Nemouridae Other Websites: Photos, Map, Museums, DNA - Barcode of Life Data System Malenka sp. Nymph Photo by Riley Nelson from the Web of Life ReferencesBaumann,RW, Gaufin,AR and Surdick,RF 1977 The stoneflies (Plecoptera) of the Rocky Mountains. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 31, 1-208. PDFQuote from page 28-29 "Malenka is the sister genus of Amphinemura and is endemic to western North America. This genus has radiated extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest and is found on island mountain ranges in the American Southwest almost to the Mexican border. The nymphs are similar to those of Amphinemura but can be distinguished by the details of the cervical gills (fig. 137) Adult specimens are small, brown and somewhat frail for Nemouridae. They are most easily collected by beating streamside vegetation. The males have distinctive mesobasal lobes on the cerci (figs. 91, 92); and the females exhibit a small nipple-like structure on the seventh sternum when viewed laterally. Most Malenka species emerge in late summer or early fall. Species that live in spring habitats have an extended emergence pattern. In fact, Malenka is the most common nemourid genus in both large and small springs throughout its range. " Muchow,CL and Richardson,JS 1999 Unexplored diversity: macroinvertebrates in coastal British Colombia headwater streams. In Proceedings of a Conference on the Biology and Management of Species and Habitats at Risk, Kamloops, BC (2) 503-506. PDF The authors studied the emergence of adult stoneflies from intermittant and continuously flowing streams in British Columbia. They found that Malenka spp. emerged from both permanent and intermittant streams, even when the intermittant streams had no surface flow. Ricker, WE 1952. Systematic studies in Plecoptera. Indiana University Publications, Science Series 18, 200 pages, Bloomington, Indiana. PDF Quote from pages 29-30:" Subgenus Malenka (new) SUBGENOTYPE: Nemoura carnuta Claassen. SIZE: Small. * GILLS: Cervical, 4 in number, 4- to 7-branched. VENATION: Typical. WING COLOR: Clear. 9TH STERNITE : Pointed ; lobe present. SUBANAL LOBES: Single, elongate, variously divided distally, with one or more notches along the inner edge. CERCI: A basal inwardly-directed process is peculiar to this group. In some species it is closely joined to the outer part, and both are only weakly sclerotized ; in others the process is strongly sclerotized and the outer part (cercus proper) is membranous, so that the process looks as though it originated from the 10th tergite directly. Since intermediate conditions exist, it is believed that the process in every case has originated from the cercus. SUPRA-ANAL PROCESS: Short, subcylindrical, partly membranous, completely recurved. ♂ TERGITES: Normal. ♀ STERNITES: 7th slightly produced at the mid-line ; 8th not produced, with a narrow median notch. DISTRIBUTION: Western North America." Ricker,WE 1992 Origin of stonefly names proposed by Ricker and collaborators. Perla, 18(1) 12 pages. PDF Quote from page 6: "Malenka Ricker 1952 (as sg. of Nemoura). Russian malenkii = little. " Stewart,KW and Alexander,NH 2008 The nymphs of three Nemouridae species (Plecoptera) from Oregon temporary headwaters streams. Transactions of the North American Entomological Society 134: 173-183. Stewart,KW and Stark,BP 2002 Nymphs of North American Stonefly Genera. 2nd edition The Caddis Press, Columbus, Ohio. 510 pages. Quote from page 192: "Diagnostic Characters: Four AT gills, with branches arising palmately (unevenly) from a basal trunk and sometimes secondarily branched. " |