Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae of Gunnison County, Colorado
Introduction to Sweltsa
Sallflies, Green stonefliesRicker 1943
Updated 15 May 2016
Provisional Species List
Sweltsa borealis
Sweltsa coloradensis
Sweltsa fidelis
Sweltsa lamba
Good Links
On this website:
Key to Chloroperlidae Nymphs
Key to Chloroperlidae Males
Key to Chloroperlidae Females
Other Websites:
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 174: "The species comprising the genus Sweltsa are similar in appearance and the females are extremely difficult to separate. Reticulate dark markings on either head or pronotum characterize several species (figs. 547[Sweltsa gaufini], 553[Sweltsa coloradensis], 554). Others are almost completely yellow except for a dark pronotal margin and abdominal stripe. In most species, there is a transverse elevated process near the front margin of the ninth tergum of the male (fig. 516)."
Clements,WH; Carlisle,DN; Lazorchak,JM; Johnson,PC 2000 Heavy metals structure benthic communities in Colorado mountain streams. Ecological Applications 10(2)626-638. Abstract
Quote from page 632: "In particular, abundance of the mayflies Rhithrogena robusta (Fig. 5b), Cinygmula sp. (Fig. 5c), and Drunella doddsi (Fig. 5d), and the stonefly Sweltsa sp.(Fig. 5e) was significantly lower at medium- and high-metal stations."
Mebane,CA; Dillon,FS and Hennessy,DP 2012 Acute toxicity of cadmium, lead, zinc, and their mixtures to stream-resident fish and invertebrates. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 31(6), 1334-1348. PDF
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 Sweltsa spp. was only found in permanent or continuously flowing streams.
Pennack,RW and Ward,JV 1986 Interstital faunal communities of the hyporheic and adjacent groundwater biotopes of a Colorado mountain stream. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Suppl. 74 3, 356-396.
They found Sweltsa sp. nymphs in the hyporheic zone of the South Platte river in the Front Range of Colorado at 1863 meters elevation.
Ricker,WE 1943. Stoneflies of Southwestern British Columbia. Indiana University Publications, Science Series 12 145 pages, Bloomington, Indiana.
First description of this genus.
Ricker,WE 1992 Origin of stonefly names proposed by Ricker and collaborators. Perla, 18(1) 12 pages.
PDF
Quote from page 10: "Sweltsa Ricker 1943 (as sg. of Alloperla). Sweltsa was the local Indians' name for Cultus Lake, British Columbia; its outlet is still called Sweitzer Creek. "
Stark,BP; Stewart,KW 2005 Nymphs of four western nearctic Sweltsa species (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae). Transactions of American Entomological Society 131 1+2, 189-200.
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 214: "Nearctic and eastern Paearctic; 27 Nearctic species of which 20 are western, distributed generally from Alaska and Yukon to California and New Mexico. Adults are tan to yellow, 8-18 mm. They are late spring to autumn emergers, depending on species, elevation and latitude. Some species like S. borealis and S. coloradensis are found in streams of all sizes. No definitive life-history studies of western species have been reported. The eastern S. mediana (Banks) and S. onkos (Rickers) have 2-year, semivoltine cycles (Harper, 1973). "
Stark,BP; Stewart,KW 2005 Nymphs of four western nearctic Sweltsa species (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae). Transactions of American Entomological Society 131 1+2, 189-200.
Surdick,RF 1985 Nearctic Genera of Chloroperlinae (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae). University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL. 146 pages.
Surdick,RF 1995a New western nearctic Sweltsa (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 97 1, 161-177.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment Data Warehouse (NAWQA) shows this genus present in Gunnison County. Data as of 1Sep2005
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