Abstract
The eastern Nearctic snowfly genus Allocapnia (Plecoptera: Capniidae) is presently recognized by 44 species (Stark and Baumann, 2005; Grubbs, 2006). A recent checklist of the stoneflies of West Virginia (Tarter and Nelson, 2006) reported 135 species. During a recent winter collecting trip, the rare snowfly Allocapnia simmonsi Kondratieff and Voshell was collected for the first time from the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Previous records of A. simmonsi have been reported from Pennsylvania (Earle, 1994) and Virginia (Kondratieff and Voshell, 1981; Kondratieff and Kirchner, 1987). The eastern panhandle of West Virginia is located in the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province. All collection localities were in the Cacapon River drainage, a tributary of the Potomac River. The majority of the landscape in the Cacapon River drainage is deciduous forest with some agriculture. Agriculture is mostly confined to the valleys of this area with the majority of the hillsides being forested. This is a rural area of West Virginia with the region’s agricultural economy lead by the poultry and beef industry. The poultry industry has grown rapidly since the early 1990s which has triggered concerns with water quality in this area (Constantz et al., 1995). Stonefly collections from the eastern panhandle of West Virginia appear to be under represented and future collecting may add new state records. Stonefly species collected in association with A. simmonsi from West Virginia included A. curiosa Frison, A. granulata (Claassen), A. nivicola (Fitch), A. pygmaea (Burmeister), A. rickeri Frison, Paracapnia angulata Hanson, Prostoia completa (Walker), Strophopteryx fasciata (Burmeister), Taeniopteryx burksi Ricker and Ross, and T. maura (Pictet). Our efforts and previous collecting have not yielded large collections of this species. Allocapnia simmonsi, which is extremely rare in PennVolume 119, Number 3, May and June 2008 303
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