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Insect Order Plecoptera (Stoneflies)

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Plecoptera (Stoneflies)

Family in Plecoptera
CapniidaeSnowflies	0	0
ChloroperlidaeSallflies	0	0
LeuctridaeNeedleflies	0	0
NemouridaeForestflies	0	0
PeltoperlidaeRoachflies	0	0
PerlidaeGolden Stones	0	0
PerlodidaeSpringflies and Yellow Stones	0	0
PteronarcyidaeSalmonflies	0	0
TaeniopterygidaeWillowflies	0	3

1 family isn't included.

Common Name

Match	Common Name
	Stoneflies

Pictures Below ↓

This is page 10 of specimens of Plecoptera. Visit the main Plecoptera page for:

The behavior and habitat of Plecoptera.
6 underwater pictures of Plecoptera.

Pictures of 151 Stonefly Specimens:

Specimen Page:1...91011...16

Hesperoperla pacifica (Golden Stone) Stonefly Nymph

View 1 PicturesThis monster started to feed within a few minutes of sharing the inspection tray with its victims. This nymph is a voracious predator of small invertebrates and has even been noted for feeding on small fish and salmonid alevins. The niche it fills in fast water is equivalent to the Dragonfly nymphs that inhabit slower water.

Hesperoperla pacifica nymphs are easily distinguished from other western perlids by the presence of anal gills (obfuscated by algae in the tray) in combination with an hour glass shaped pale mark on the front of their heads.

Collected March 22, 2013 from the Lower Yuba River in CA
Added to Troutnut.com by Entoman on April 4, 2013

Taenionema atlanticum (Willowfly) Stonefly Nymph

View 7 Pictures

Collected April 1, 2007 from Mystery Creek #62 in New York
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on April 3, 2007

Yoraperla brevis (Roachfly) Stonefly Nymph

View 1 Pictures

Collected March 6, 2005 from Station Creek in Montana
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on June 28, 2011

Female Isocapnia hyalita (Little Snowfly) Stonefly Adult

View 1 Pictures

Collected April 21, 2012 from the Touchet River in Washington
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on April 26, 2012

Male Pteronarcys californica (Giant Salmonfly) Stonefly Adult

View 1 PicturesThis shows the adult and its exuviae.

Collected May 1, 2007 from the Jocko River in Montana
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on June 26, 2011

Utacapnia distincta (Little Snowfly) Stonefly Nymph

View 1 PicturesUpper specimen is a nymph and the lower specimen is a wingless male.

Collected April 15, 2010 from Teepee Creek in Montana
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on June 26, 2011

Claassenia sabulosa (Golden Stone) Stonefly Nymph

View 11 PicturesThis striking golden stonefly is the first of its species I've had the chance to photograph.

Collected April 12, 2021 from Holder Creek in Washington
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on April 13, 2021

Kathroperla perdita (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult

View 1 Pictures

Collected May 9, 2005 from Teepee Creek in Montana
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on July 3, 2011

Male Malenka tina (Tiny Winter Black) Stonefly Adult

View 7 PicturesThis is the smallest stonefly I've ever collected, with a body only 5.5 mm long.

Although not in-focus in my pictures, its first tarsal segment is similar in length to the third, while the second is much shorter. This helps with family-level identification.

Examining this specimen under a microscope shows a membranous lobe on the dorsal (Dorsal: Top.) base of the cerci (Cercus: The left and right "tails" of an insect are known as the cerci or caudal cerci. The middle tail of a three-tailed insect is not.), which is the key characteristic in Merritt & Cummins (4th ed.) to place the genus definitively as Malenka.

Following the species key in Jewett Jr's Stoneflies of the Pacific Northwest, the species appears to be Malenka tina. My dissecting microscope seems to show sternite (

One sternite of this Isonychia bicolor mayfly spinner is highlighted in red.

Sternite: The bottom (ventral) part of a single segment on an insect's abdomen.) 9 ending in a rounded knob, which distinguishes it from Malenka bifurcata, but the detail is hard to work out.

Also worth noting is that Montana appears to have this species, whereas birfucata is not know there: http://fieldguide.mt.gov/displaySpecies.aspx?family=Nemouridae

Collected July 1, 2019 from the Madison River in Montana
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on July 18, 2019

Male Hesperoperla pacifica (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult

View 1 Pictures

Collected June 17, 2011 from the Grande Rhonde River in Washington
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on June 26, 2011

Specimen Page:1...91011...16

Jargon Defined:

Cerci: The left and right "tails" of an insect are known as the cerci or caudal cerci. The middle tail of a three-tailed insect is not.

Dorsal: Top.

Nymph: The juvenile, underwater stages of mayflies, stoneflies, dragonflies, and damselflies and other aquatic insects whose juvenile stages are covered by hard exoskeletons. The word can also refer to the fishing flies which imitate these creatures, in which case it is used as a blanket term for flies imitating any underwater stage of an invertebrate (except for crayfish and leeches).

One sternite of this Isonychia bicolor mayfly spinner is highlighted in red.

Sternite: The bottom (ventral) part of a single segment on an insect's abdomen.

Useful References:

Schwiebert, Ernest G. 1955. Matching the Hatch. MacMillan Publishing Company.

Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.