Content area
Full Text
ABSTRACT
The stonefly fauna of Maryland is updated. An unassociated female of Perlesta Banks, 1906 is described under informal designation, complete with light microscopy micrographs of head and pronotal pigmentation patterns plus scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of eggs. New state records are presented for Cultus verticalis (Banks, 1920), Neoperla catharae Stark & Baumann, 1978, and P. mihucorum Kondratieff& Myers, 2011. Light microscopy and SEM micrographs are also presented for P. mihucorum. Published state records of Isoperla Banks, 1906 and Sweltsa onkos (Ricker, 1952) are emended given recent descriptions in both genera. Distribution maps for S. onkos and S. hoffmani Kondratieff& Kirchner, 2009, plus for all species of Isoperla and Perlesta known to occur in the Appalachian Mountain region of western Maryland, are provided. An updated state checklist of 114 species is included.
Keywords: Plecoptera, Perlidae, Perlesta, state records, Maryland
INTRODUCTION
Information on the stonefly fauna of Maryland was based initially on the species lists in Duffield & Nelson (1990) and Grubbs (1997), and now easily searchable as a "Faunal list" in DeWalt et al. (2018). Duffield & Nelson (1990) presented 25 new state records and the first published state checklist of 58 species. Grubbs (1997) reported 36 new state records and an updated checklist of 95 species. Additions and clarifications were subsequently included in Grubbs & Stark (2001), Nelson et al. (2002), Grubbs (2003), and Surdick (2004).
Since 2004, taxonomic and locality information on the Maryland fauna have been included in systematic treatments of Allocapnia Claassen, 1928 (Grubbs & Sheldon 2008), Leuctra Stephens, 1836 (Grubbs 2015, Grubbs & Wei 2017), Prostoia Ricker, 1952 (Grubbs et al. 2014), Soyedina Ricker, 1952 (Grubbs 2006), Sweltsa Ricker, 1943 (Kondratieff& Kirchner 2009, Stark et al. 2011), Perlesta Banks, 1906 (Grubbs & DeWalt 2008, 2012), and Isoperla Banks, 1906 (Szczytko & Kondratieff2015).
Stemming from the recent taxonomic treatments of Sweltsa and Isoperla, several species whose distribution in Maryland were in question, or are now more readily identified, were re-examined.
Perlesta was also examined closely, revealing unassociated females with potentially unique egg characteristics plus a surprising range extension for P. mihucorum Kondratieff& Myers, 2011 were present in material collected by the author during the 1990's. Scanning electron and light microscopy micrographs are included to further facilitate identification of these...