Lawrence Sallfly Guide - New York Natural Heritage Program

Lawrence Sallfly

Alloperla voinae Ricker, 1948

Class: Insecta (Insects)
Family: Chloroperlidae

State Protection: Not Listed

Not listed or protected by New York State.
Federal Protection: Not Listed

State Conservation Status Rank: SNR

Not Ranked - State conservation status not yet assessed.
Global Conservation Status Rank: G3

Vulnerable globally - At moderate risk of extinction due to rarity or other factors; typically 80 or fewer populations or locations in the world, few individuals, restricted range, few remaining acres (or miles of stream), and/or recent and widespread declines.

Summary
Conservation and Management
Habitat
Range
Identification Comments
Taxonomy
Additional Resources
About This Guide

Summary

Did you know?

The Lawrence Sawfly is part of the family of green stoneflies, Chloroperlidae. These stoneflies are hemimetabolous, having only three life stages. They hatch from eggs as nymphs and develop directly to adults.

State Ranking Justification

Little is known about the current status of this species of stonefly in New York State. There are two extant locations in northeastern New York. Habitat degradation from agricultural runoff, wastewater pollution, and erosion threatens the persistence of this species.

Conservation and Management

Conservation Overview

There are few documented occurrences in New York State. The earliest occurrences were found at the Adirondack Lodge in the 1920s and in the Ausable watershed in Essex County in the 1940s. Recently, two more occurrences were found in the Cold Brook (Clinton County) and Ampersand Brook (Franklin County) (Dmitriev 2015, Myers 2021).

Threats

Stoneflies are threatened by the degradation of the water quality and quantity of the waterbodies they inhabit. Agricultural and residential runoff, wastewater pollution, and erosion create unsuitable habitat conditions. Disruption of natural streamflow by roads and daming can reduce the quantity of water available for this species (Maine Wildlife Action Plan Revision 2015).

Conservation Strategies and Management Practices

Maintaining riparian buffers and natural wetlands will help prevent contamination of streams and rivers from agricultural, urban, and domestic pollution (Maine Wildlife Action Plan Revision 2015). Avoiding damming and flow alteration will help maintain favorable habitat for stoneflies such as the Lawrence Sallfly. Reduced use of road salt in transportation corridors adjacent to streams will help protect this species.(New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 2015).

Development and Mitigation Considerations

Landowners should be encouraged to maintain streamside buffers to filter out harmful contaminates before they reach the stream. Aging infrastructure, such as old septic tanks, can introduce wastewater contaminates to the stream/river reducing the water quality and habitat for stoneflies. When possible, homeowners and businesses, should consider upgrading old septic tanks to prevent seepage to nearby waterbodies. The use of pesticides in residential and agricultural areas should be reduced to protect stream quality. The protection of natural wetlands will help improve water quality by filtering out wastewater contaminates and storm water runoff (Maine Wildlife Action Plan Revision 2015). Transportation corridors should be constructed to not interfere with streams or waterbodies. If it is necessary for transportation to cross a waterbody, crossings should be constructed using open bottom structures, such as bridges or open bottom culverts. This will maintain the natural stream substrate used by species of aquatic macroinvertebrates, such as stoneflies. (Maine Wildlife Action Plan Revision 2015).

Research Needs

More research should be conducted to determine the threats of climate change and infrastructure on this species. Detailed habitat requirments need to be studied and defined for this species. Changes in temperature and rainfall may create unfavorable habitat for stoneflies to survive. Interrupting the streamflow and streambed of headwater streams with undersized and/or improper types of road crossing structures may degrade the avaialble habitat for this species (Maine Wildlife Action Plan Revision 2015).

Habitat

Nymphs are aquatic and reside in high gradient streams and creeks with gravelly bottoms (McCafferty 1998). Adults may be found on vegetation near water (Bugguide 2022).

Range

New York State Distribution

The only known locations of Alloperla voinae are in northern New York State, south of the St. Lawrence River (Myers et.al. 2021).

Global Distribution

This species is known from the St. Lawrence River and adjacent Atlantic drainages. Locations include the Canadian Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia and Quebec as well as USFWS Region 5 states of Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont (NatureServe 2022).

Best Places to See

Cold Brook (Clinton County)
Ampersand Brook (Franklin County)

Identification Comments

Identifying Characteristics

The nymphs of the genus Alloperla are small to medium in size, measuring 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch. The body is slender and lacks gills on the thoracic and abdominal segments (McCafferty 1998). The thoracic segments are without dark patterns which distinguished them from the families of Perlidae and Perlodidae (Macroinvertebrates 2022). The cerci are short and are usually no longer than 3/4 of the abdomen (Pennak 1978). Cerci has a vertical fringe on the intrasegumental hairs (Merrit and Cummings 1978). Adults have a distinct bright green coloration and the anal lobe of the hind wings is reduced or absent (McCafferty 1998).

Characters Most Useful for Identification

The wings of the adult are bright yellow-green in color. The pronotum is nearly oval and the corners are broadly rounded (Bugguide 2022). Nymphs have short cerci, which are much shorter than the abdomen (Macroinvertebrates 2022).

Best Life Stage for Proper Identification

Adult or nymph.

Behavior

This species is considered a grazer, gatherer, and predator. They cling to stream substrate, such as small boulders and cobble (Macroinvertebrates 2022).

Diet

This species of stonefly is omnivorous, eating both algae and particulate organic matter. The larger Alloperla nymphs will feed on the larvae and nymphs of other species of stream dwelling invertebrates.

Present
Reproducing

The time of year you would expect to find Lawrence Sallfly present and reproducing in New York.

Taxonomy

Lawrence Sallfly
Alloperla voinae Ricker, 1948

Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Arthropoda (Mandibulates)
  - Class Insecta (Insects)
    - Order Plecoptera (Stoneflies)
      - Family Chloroperlidae

Additional Resources

References

Bugguide. 2022. Family Chloroperlidae - Green Stoneflies. [online] Available at: <https://bugguide.net/node/view/43112> [Accessed 31 May 2022].

Discoverlife. 2022. Discover Life -- GBIF436338889. [online] Available at: <https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20l?id=GBIF436338889> [Accessed 18 May 2022].

Dmitriev, D. (2015). Illinois Natural History Survey Insect Collection. Illinois Natural History Survey. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/eol0pe accessed via GBIF.org on 2022-05-18.

Macroinvertebrates. 2022. Atlas of Common Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of Eastern North America: Family Plecoptera Chloroperlidae. [online] Available at: <https://www.macroinvertebrates.org/taxa-info/plecoptera-larva/chloroperlidae> [Accessed 18 May 2022].

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. 2016. Maine 2016 wildlife action plan revision: Alloperla voinae (a stonefly). Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Augusta, ME.

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. 2016a. Maine’s wildlife action plan revision: SGCN and conservation actions associated with habitat groupings: streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Augusta, ME.

McCafferty, Patrick W. 1998. Aquatic entomology: the fisherman's and ecologists' illustrated guide to insects and their relatives. Boston, Mass.: Science Books International.

Merritt, R.W. and Cummins, K.W. (eds.) 1978. An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., Dubuque, Iowa.

Myers, L. W., B. C. Kondratieff, D. E. Ruiter T. B. Mihuc. 2021 New York and New England Aquatic insect database, Lake Champlain Research Institute, SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY.

NatureServe. 2022. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. (Accessed: June 23, 2022).

New York Natural Heritage Program. 2024. New York Natural Heritage Program Databases. Albany, NY.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. 2015. State Wildlife Action Plan SGCN Stoneflies. Available at:<https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/sgcnstoneflies.pdf>{Accessed 23 June 2022].

Pennak, R. W. 1975. Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States, 2nd edition.John Wiley and Sons INC.

About This Guide

This guide was authored by: Lutz, Colleen M.

Information for this guide was last updated on: June 30, 2022

Please cite this page as:
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2024. Online Conservation Guide for Alloperla voinae. Available from: https://guides.nynhp.org/lawrence-sallfly/. Accessed April 24, 2024.