Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoIntroduction to the Mayfly genus ChoroterpesEaton, 1881Updated 9 Sept 2024
TSN 101108 
Locations CollectedLarvae are present in Tomichi Creek east of Gunnison.LinksOn this website:Leptophlebiidae Introduction Choroterpes inornata may be present in the upper Gunnison Basin. Choroterpes albiannulata may also be present. Other Websites: ReferencesAllen RK. 1974 Neochoroterpes, a new subgenus of Choroterpes Eaton from North America (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae). Canadian Entomologist 106:161-168.Brittain,JE and Saltveit,SJ 1989 A review of the effect of river regulation on mayflies (Ephemeroptera). Regulated Rivers: Research & Management, 3(1), pp.191-204. PDF Abstract: "Impoundment and diversion of watercourses for power production and water supply can have profound effects on the mayfly fauna. To explain such effects a species-specific approach is adopted on account of differing habitat requirements and life histories in the order and even within genera. Environmental conditions such as discharge and flow patterns, temperature, food availability, and predation may be changed. This leads to changes in the density and species composition of the mayfly community, especially when there is a hypolimnion drain from reservoirs. Temperature changes below such reservoirs may remove obligatory life cycle thresholds. Prolonged periods of low discharge lead to the dominance of genera, such as Paraleptophlebia, Choroterpes, Siphlonurus, and Pseudocloen, typical of slow-flowing and lentic habitats. The life cycle plasticity and opportunism shown by Baetis rhodani in Europe and B. tricaudatus in North America have undoubtedly contributed to their success in regulated rivers. The life history characteristics of Tricorythodes are also advantageous below dams. The increased growth of periphyton and mosses below many dams favour certain Ephemerellidae, but restrict or eliminate many Heptageniidae. In order to survive adverse conditions, flexible life cycles or a short period of rapid nymphal growth coupled with a long period of egg development, are advantageous." Eaton,AE 1881 An announcement of new genera of the Ephemeridae. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 17:191-197. The Reverend Alfred Edwin Eaton describes the mayfly genus Choroterpes in this paper. Now the "foliaceous abdominal tracheal branchiæ" are called "gills" or now dorsal and ventral lamella.  Edmunds,GF and Musser,GG 1960 The mayfly fauna of the Green River in the Flaming Gorge Reservoir Basin, Wyoming and Utah.University of Utah Anthropological Papers. 48:111-123. Gerhardt A; Bisthoven LJ de; Soares AMVM. 2005. Effects of acid mine drainage and acidity on the activity of Choroterpes picteti (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae). Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 48:450-458. Kluge,NJ 2012 Contribution to the knowledge of Choroterpes (Ephemeroptera, Leptophlebiidae). Russian Entomological Journal, 21(3), pp.273-306. PDF McCafferty, WP 1992 New larval desciptions and comparisons of North American Choroterpes (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae) Great Lakes Entomologist (25)71-78. McCafferty,WP; Durfee,RS; Kondratieff,BC 1993 Colorado mayflies (Ephemeroptera): an annotated inventory. Southwestern Naturalist 38 3, 252-274. PDF Quotes from page 262: Choroterpes albiannulata "In an unpublished Master's Thesis submitted to Colorado State University in 1977, E.L. Ames had earlier reported this species in abundance in the Yampa River (Moffat County and Routt County) and White River (Rio Blanco County). Edmunds and Musser (1960) reported this species from the Green River in nearby areas of both Utah and Wyoming. It is now generally known from throughout the Northwest, and McCafferty (1992) has recently described the larval stage, allowing the present confirmation."Choroterpes inornata" Colorado is evidently the northernmost location of this species, which was originally described from Mexico (Eaton, 1892). Allen (1974) showed C. inornata as occurring in southern Colorado on a range map, but provided no specific information. Larvae reported from La Plata County by Peters and Edmunds (1961) are probably attributable to this species." Peters WL, Edmunds Jr GF. 1961 The mayflies (Ephemeroptera) of the Navajo Reservoir Basin, New Mexico and Colorado. University of Utah Anthropological Papers, No. 55, Upper Colorado Series, No. 5, pp. Peters,WL 1988 Origins of the North American Ephemeroptera fauna, especially the Leptophlebiidae. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, (144) 13-24. Illustrations
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