Stenacron Explained

Stenacron is a genus of mayfly in the family Heptageniidae (the flat-headed mayflies),^[1] with a distribution across eastern North America.^[2]

Habitat

Larvae can survive in most shallow freshwater environments, including stagnant, low oxygen, and polluted waters, however they prefer the shallow, slow moving edges of rivers where they cling to the underside of rocks.^[3]

Taxonomy

History

Thomas Say first documented the species interpunctatum in 1839 in Indiana from 20 holotypes and 14 paratypes. Hagen, in 1861, confirmed and expanded the geographical range of the species with a collection of other specimens from Virginia that concurred with Say’s haplotypes. In 1974, the interpunctatum group was listed by Steven L Jensen as the genus Stenacron.

Species

Although there are 7 recognized species in the genus, the variation amongst populations of S. interpunctatum forms the Stenacron interpunctatum complex, which comprises 16 closely related subspecies.^[4]

List of the currently valid species as of 2014:

• Stenacron candidum (Traver, 1935)

^{i c g b}

• Stenacron carolina (Banks, 1914)

^{i c g b}

• Stenacron floridense (Lewis, 1974)

^{i c g b}

• Stenacron gildersleevei (Traver, 1935)

^{i c g b} (Gildersleeve's Stenacron Mayfly)

• Stenacron interpunctatum (Say, 1839)

^{i c g b} (Stenacron Mayfly)

• Stenacron minnetonka (Daggy, 1945)

^{i c g b}

• Stenacron pallidum (Traver, 1933)

^{i c g b}Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

Synonym forms that make up the interpunctatum complex.^[5]

• Stenacron interpunctatum / affine
• Stenacron interpunctatum / areion
• Stenacron interpunctatum / canadense
• Stenacron interpunctatum / conjunctum
• Stenacron interpunctatum / frontale
• Stenacron interpunctatum / heterotarsale
• Stenacron interpunctatum / majus
• Stenacron interpunctatum / ohioense
• Stenacron interpunctatum / proximum

References

• Book: Chinery, Michael. Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe. 1986. Collins. London. 0-00-219170-9.

Further reading

• Book: Arnett . Ross H. Jr.. 2000. American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico. CRC Press. 2nd. 0-8493-0212-9.
• Barber-James . Helen M.. Gattolliat . Jean-Luc. Sartori . Michel. Hubbard . Michael D.. 2008. Global diversity of mayflies (Ephemeroptera, Insecta) in freshwater. Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment. Springer. 595. 1. 339–350. 10.1007/978-1-4020-8259-7_37.
• Web site: 2018-03-24. Barber-James . H.. Sartori . M.. Gattolliat . J-L.. Webb . J.. 2013. World checklist of freshwater Ephemeroptera species.
• Book: Campbell . Ian C.. 1990. Mayflies and stoneflies: Life histories and biology. Springer. 978-94-010-7579-4. 10.1007/978-94-009-2397-3.
• Edmunds Jr. . George F.. 1972. Biogeography and evolution of Ephemeroptera. Annual Review of Entomology. Annual Reviews. 17. 1. 21–42. 10.1146/annurev.en.17.010172.000321.
• Book: Kluge . Nikita. 2013. The phylogenetic system of Ephemeroptera. Springer Science & Business Media. 978-94-015-3942-5. 10.1007/978-94-007-0872-3.

External links

Notes and References

1. Web site: Genus Ephemeroptera Heptageniidae Stenacron . 2023-07-01 . www.macroinvertebrates.org.
2. Web site: Murray . Tom . 2006 . Genus Stenacron . BugGuide - Genus Stenacron Info Page.
3. Book: Lewis, P. A. . The Taxonomy and Ecology of Stenonema Mayflies . National Environmental Research Center . 1974.
4. Book: Traver, J. D. . Biology of a Mayfly . 1935.
5. Web site: Taxonomy and ecology of Stenonema mayflies (Heptageniidae: Ephemeroptera) / by Philip A. Lewis . 2023-10-16 . HathiTrust . en.