Plecoptera

For the genus of moths, see Plecoptera (moth).

Plecoptera
Temporal range: 299–0 Ma Permian–Recent
Eusthenia sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
(unranked): Dicondylia
Subclass: Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
Cohort: Polyneoptera
Order: Plecoptera
Burmeister, 1839
Suborders

mostly Arctoperlaria: see text

Plecoptera is an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide,[1] with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica.[2] Stoneflies are believed to be one of the most primitive groups of Neoptera, with close relatives identified from the Carboniferous and Lower Permian geological periods, while true stoneflies are known from fossils only a bit younger. Their modern diversity, however, apparently is of Mesozoic origin.[3]

Plecoptera are found in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, and the populations are quite distinct, although the evolutionary evidence suggests species may have crossed the equator on a number of occasions before once again becoming geographically isolated.[3][4]

All species of Plecoptera are intolerant of water pollution, and the presence of their nymphs in a stream or still water is usually an indicator of good or excellent water quality.[5]

  1. ^ Romolo Fochetti & José Manuel Tierno de Figueroa (2008) [Originally published in Hydrobiologia Vol. 595 in 2008]. "Global diversity of stoneflies (Plecoptera; Insecta) in freshwater". In E. V. Balian; C. Lévêque; H. Segers & K. Martens (eds.). Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment. Developments in Hydrobiology. Vol. 198. pp. 365–377. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8259-7_39. hdl:2067/1437. ISBN 978-1-4020-8258-0.
  2. ^ Brittain, 1987
  3. ^ a b Peter Zwick (2000). "Phylogenetic system and zoogeography of the Plecoptera". Annual Review of Entomology. 45: 709–746. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.45.1.709. PMID 10761594.
  4. ^ H. B. N. Hynes (1993). Adults and Nymphs of British Stoneflies. Freshwater Biological Association. ISBN 978-0-900386-28-2.
  5. ^ Nelson, Riley. "Clean water has bugs in it, says BYU Biology Professor Riley Nelson". Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2013.