Family Taeniopterygidae Research Articles

Taenionema (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae), a stonefly genus new to the fauna of China.

The taeniopterygid genus Taenionema Banks, 1905 is reported from China for the first time. A newly discovered and probable new species of this genus, Taenionema sp., is described and illustrated based on larvae from Zhejiang Province of coastal southeastern China. The species is characterized by the male larva having a bilobed post-genital plate. Adults will be necessary for a future formal species description. This contribution represents the first larval description in the family Taeniopterygidae from China.

Review of the rare and little-known Chinese species of the family Taeniopterygidae (Plecoptera), with description of two new species of Kyphopteryx.

The species of the family Taeniopterygidae (Plecoptera) are reviewed from China. Two new Kyphopteryx species, K. yangi sp. nov. and K. coniformis sp. nov. are described and illustrated from Yunnan Province of southwestern China. Additionally, a provisional key to the males of Taeniopterygidae known from China is provided.

First record of subfamily Brachypterainae (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae) in Baltic amber: a new genus and species.

Based on a well-preserved female specimen, a new stonefly genus and species of the family Taeniopterygidae, Balticopteryx dui gen. et sp. nov. is described and illustrated, which is also the first report of subfamily Brachypterainae from the Eocene Baltic amber. Diagnostic characters of this new genus are discussed and compared with related taxa.

The first two mitochondrial genomes from Taeniopterygidae (Insecta: Plecoptera): Structural features and phylogenetic implications

The complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of Taeniopteryx ugola and Doddsia occidentalis (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae) were firstly sequenced from the family Taeniopterygidae. The 15,353-bp long mitogenome of T. ugola and the 16,020-bp long mitogenome of D. occidentalis each contained 37 genes including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs) and a control region (CR). The mitochondrial gene arrangement of the two taeniopterygids and other stoneflies was identical with the putative ancestral mitogenome of Drosophila yakuba. Most PCGs used standard ATN start codons and TAN termination codons. Twenty-one of the 22 tRNAs in each mitogenome could fold into the cloverleaf secondary structures, while the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm of trnSer (AGN) was reduced or absent. Stem-loop (SL) structures, poly-T stretch, poly-[AT]n stretch and tandem repeats were found in the CRs of the two mitogenomes. The phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood methods (ML) generated identical results, both supporting the monophyly of all stonefly families and the two infraorders, Systellognatha and Euholognatha. Taeniopterygidae was grouped with another two families from Euholognatha. The relationships within Plecoptera were recovered as (((Perlidae+Peltoperlidae)+((Pteronarcyidae+Chloroperlidae)+Styloperlidae))+((Capniidae+Taeniopterygidae)+Nemouridae))+Gripopterygidae.

The structure and ultrastructure of the egg capsule of Brachyptera risi (Plecoptera, Nemouroidea, Taeniopterygidae) with some remarks concerning choriogenesis.

The organization of the egg capsule of the euholognathan stonefly, which represents the family Taeniopterygidae (Nemuroidea) was investigated using light and electron microscopy techniques. The presence of a complex, multilayered egg capsule, composed of a vitelline envelope, multilayered chorion, and extrachorion is described. The morphology of the eggshell of Brachyptera risi was compared with that of euholognthan and systellognathan egg coverings and the ground plan of the egg capsule in Plecoptera was discussed.

Drumming signals within the family Taeniopterygidae (Plecoptera)

Drumming signals of the 11 species of Palaearctic Taeniopterygidae are described for the first time based on the study of populations from nine different European countries from Spain to Russia. In this way, a contribution is made to our knowledge of the constancy respectively the divergence of signals typical for the species distributed over a very wide area. Communication patterns of the family under varying temperatures were analysed. The dependence on temperature indicates that the adults of this family are cold stenothermic insects. Within the genus Brachyptera (Newport, 1851), the call signal of males is significantly different from their response signal (duration and drumming frequency). The marked modulation of the drumming frequency, e.g., of B. risi (Morton, 1896) and B. seticornis (Klapálek, 1902) is reached by a modulation of the amplitude of abdominal movements. Based on the study of the drumming signals, Taeniopteryx auberti (Kis and Sowa, 1964) is proposed as a subspecies of T. hubaulti (Aubert, 1946). Actual intensity of the drumming signals of T. auberti was measured. Taeniopteryx hubaulti is recorded for the first time outside the Alps.

Distribution of stoneflies of the family Taeniopterygidae (Plecoptera) in the Czech Republic: earlier data, new records and recent distributional changes

Distribution of stoneflies of the family Taeniopterygidae (Plecoptera) in the Czech Republic: earlier data, new records and recent distributional changes Altogether 14 species of Taeniopterygidae were previously mentioned from the Czech Republic; 11 species were listed in check-list of Plecoptera of Czechoslovakia, three species were recorded recently. Main aims of this study were to summarize all known distributional data, reexamine available material, classify species to the categories of threat based on new distributional data, and discuss all species ever supposed to occur in the Czech Republic. In total eight species were found to occur in the Czech Republic with certainty. Two species, Brachyptera seticornis and B. risi, are common in the Czech Republic, the latter exhibiting some expansion in Bohemia at present. Critically endangered Brachyptera braueri missing in the past 40 years has been recently found in several rivers showing some recovery of the original area. Endangered Taeniopteryx nebulosa exhibited considerable decline in lowland and colline streams. New records are presented for near threatened montane species B. starmachi, endangered B. monilicornis, newly classified endangered T. auberti, and vulnerable Taeniopteryx hubaulti. No reliable data have been found as to distribution of Brachyptera trifasciata, Taeniopteryx kuehtreiberi, T. araneoides, and Oemopteryx loewii, respective earlier records were based on misidentification. The occurrence of Rhabdiopteryx acuminata and R. neglecta is doubtful at this moment, because it was based on the problematic determination of larval material. These species cannot be formally considered a part of the Czech fauna due to lack of voucher material. Possible occurrence of other Rhabdiopteryx species showing the area adjacent to the Czech Republic is discussed.

The Male Drumming Call ofRhabdiopteryx thienemanniIllies (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae; Brachypterainae)

Studies in recent decades have revealed that the group Arctoperlaria (Plecoptera) has developed the most diverse and complex system of vibrational communication known in insects (Stewart, 2001). Within this group, the family Taeniopterygidae includes almost 150 species distributed in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions (Fochetti and Tierno de Figueroa, 2008), but only the vibrational calls of seven species belonging to two genera, Taeniopteryx Pictet, 1842 and Oemopteryx Klapálek, 1902 (e.g. Rupprecht, 1982; Stewart and Zeigler, 1984; Stewart et al., 1991), have been recorded (Stewart and Sandberg, 2006). These latter authors pointed out that all of the seven species present a percussion (drumming) male call, ancestral to slightly derived (change of beat number and/ or intervals). Nevertheless, the several species of Taenionema Banks, 1905 and Doddsia Needham & Claassen, 1925 that have been tested suggest the possibility that some Taeniopterygidae do not drum (Stewart and Sandberg, 2006).The genus Rhabdiopteryx Klapálek, 1902 has a West Palearctic distribution and includes eleven species (Krno, 2004; Vinçon and Murányi, 2009). One of them, R. thienemanni lilies, 1957 is distributed in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France, and the male drumming call is described for the first time in the present work.

Two new Jurassic stoneflies (Insecta: Plecoptera) from Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China

Two new genera and two new species of family Taeniopterygidae, Mengitaenioptera multiramis gen. et sp. nov. and Noviramonemoura trinervis gen. et sp. nov. are described. These fossils were collected from Daohugou Village (the Middle Jurassic), Inner Mongolia, China. Hitherto, these fossil species from Daohugou are the oldest taeniopterygids. Both simple and complex venations simultaneously occurred in this group, which reveals that the early diversification of taeniopterids was well underway by the Middle Jurassic. Therefore, we prefer to adopt the Comstock’s opinion that the venation of taeniopterids was derived from the simple venation of the older group (such as Palaeonemouridae) at much ancient geological time ago. Some of the descendants carried this simple venation; others evolved into complex venation with many additional crossveins and branches.

The oldest known record of Taeniopterygidae in the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China (Insecta: Plecoptera)

Two new genera and three new species of family Taeniopterygidae, Jurataenionema inornatus Liu and Ren, gen. et sp. nov., Jurataenionema stigmaeus Liu and Ren, gen. et sp. nov. and Protaenionema fuscalatus Liu and Shih, gen. et sp. nov. are described from Daohugou village (Middle Jurassic), Inner Mongolia, China. These are the oldest records of Taeniopterygidae. The venations of these two genera were very simple, providing evidence that the costal crossveins and the occasional apical crossveins are derived characters. We suggest the same is true of the extra branches of Rs and CuA in family Taeniopterygidae. Extra branches and crossveins added through geologic time might have improved aerodynamics of the wings.

A review of stoneflies of the family Taeniopterygidae (Plecoptera) in Russia and adjacent countries

Twenty-one species of the following eight genera of the family Taeniopterygidae were recorded from Russia and adjacent countries (within the limits of the former USSR): Taeniopteryx (4 species), Brachyptera (7), Kyphopteryx (2), Mesyatsia (2), Oempoteryx (1), Rhabdiopteryx (3), Strophopteryx (1), and Taenionema (1). All the species belong to the Palaearctic complex, which is subdivided into the following groups: transpalearctic (1 species), western-Palaearctic (5), Ponto-Caucasian (3: 2 endemics of the Caucasus and 1 species distributed in the Caucasus and Anatolia). Middle-Asian (3), eastern-Palaearctic (1), and Palearchaearctic (1).

Life cycle and nymphal feeding of Rhabdiopteryx christinae Theischinger 1975 (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae)

In the present paper some aspects of the nymphal biology of Rhabdiopteryx christinae, an endemic species from the Iberian Peninsula, are studied in a temporary stream from Southern Spain. R. christinae has an univoltine life cycle, with very short, fast and constant nymphal development, only having four months (December-March), related with the seasonality of the stream. In order to resist the period in which the stream has no water, an egg diapause probably occurs. The study of nymphal gut contents showed that R. christinae acts mainly as collector (detritus) and scraper (epiphytic and epilitic diatoms), as it is generally accepted for the family Taeniopterygidae.