Xanthoperla apicalis (Newman 1836)

Boumans, Louis, 2011, The Plecoptera Collection At The Natural History Museum In Oslo, Illiesia 7 (25), pp. 280-290 : 284

Xanthoperla apicalis (Newman 1836)

Buskerud [ Ringerike ] viii.[18]45, 2♀, leg. J.H. Siebke, det. R. Brekke [two specimens on two pins, additional labels ‘ Siebke’, ‘33’, ‘ Gf 2276 ZM Oslo’, respectively ‘34’ and ‘ Gf 2277 ZM Oslo’ +; * Hedmark + Elverum , [no date], 2♀, leg. J.H. Siebke, det. R. Brekke [two specimens on a single pin, additional labels ‘ Siebke’, ‘35-36’ and ‘ Gf 2278 ZM Oslo’ +; Nord- Trondelag: Steinkjer, Ogna, 1 imago sex?, 22.vii.1967, leg.? [ethanol specimen, genitalia removed and lost]; Grong, Fjerdingelven, 1 male, 2.vii.1970, leg. A. Lillehammer [ethanol specimen, genitalia slidemounted, labelled P2137].

Xanthoperla apicalis is a species of larger rivers in Europe ( Lillehammer 1988:80). It was historically widespread in Europe but suffered from habitat fragmentation and has become very rare in central Europe ( Zwick 1992, 2004; Koese 2008:105). It is also rare in Norway, with a scattered and little known distribution. The nineteenth century specimens in the NHM are listed by Brekke (1941) under the name Chloroperla borealis Bengtsson, 1933 . According to Brekke, Schøyen (1887) refers to these same specimens under the name Isopteryx apicalis Newm. Schøyen does not cite specimens explicitly, but lists the municipalities Christiania (= Oslo), Ringerike and Elverum. Brittain (1983; Brittain et al. 1984) discusses finds from the Namsen and Sanddøla rivers in Nord Trondelag, as well as the river Glomma in Hedmark.

Note: Zwick (2004) remarks that figure 114 in Lillehammer (1988:76) does not show the pronotum of X. apicalis . The NHM slide collection includes three slides marked ‘P39 X. apicalis’, bearing a nymphal hind leg, cerci, two heads, one pronotum and a complete small nymph. The incomplete collecting event data associated with P39 is ‘Storelva, 26.iv.1966 ’. The pronota in these slides do not look like Lillehammer’s fig. 114. However, they are probably Siphonoperla (Peter Zwick, personal communication September 2011).