Montana Field Guide

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- Kingdom - Animals - Animalia
  - Phylum - Spiders, Insects, and Crustaceans - Arthropoda
    - Class - Insects - Insecta
      - Order - Stoneflies - Plecoptera
        
        Family - Rolled-winged Stoneflies - Leuctridae
        
        Species - Western Needlefly - Paraleuctra occidentalis

Western Needlefly - Paraleuctra occidentalis

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: SNR

Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:

External Links

General Description

This is a small black stonefly in the family; Leuctridae. Like most of the species in the rolled-winged family, this species hatches early in the year often when snow is still on the ground, where they can be noticed quite easily crawling around along the banks of streams.

Food Habits

Merritt and Cummins (1996) report that members of this family are trophically shredder-detritivores; eating large particulate organic materials such as detritus, leaves and plants.

References

Literature Cited AboveLegend: View Online Publication
- Cummins, K.W. and R.W. Merritt. 1996. Ecology and distribution of aquatic insects. Chapter 6, pages 74-86 in R.W. Merritt and K.W. Cummins (eds.) An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America. Third Edition. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa. 862 pp.
Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?
- Burns, D.C. 1973. Plecoptera of the West Fork of the West Gallatin River and factors influencing their distribution. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, Montana: Montana State University. 71 p.
- Gustafson, D. L. 1990. Ecology of aquatic insects in the Gallatin River drainage. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 194 p.
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Citation for data on this website:
Western Needlefly — Paraleuctra occidentalis. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Retrieved on May 8, 2024, from https://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=IIPLE0D050