Perlesta Shubuta Stark

Ray, Donald H., Abad, Rick L., Rasmussen, Andrew K. & Stark, Bill P., 2012, New Records And An Updated Checklist Of The Stoneflies (Plecoptera) From Florida, Illiesia 8 (1), pp. 1-9 : 4

Perlesta Shubuta Stark

Distribution. Previously known from Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, and Oklahoma ( Stark 2004) and recently reported from North Carolina ( Kondratieff et al. 2011). Our records are the first from Florida.

Material examined. FLORIDA: Gadsden Co., Crooked Creek below CR 270, N 30°35’1.3”, W 84°52’51.4, June 2011, R. Abad, D. Ray, & A. Rasmussen, 1 adult with exuviae reared 9 June 2011, 1 ♂ and 1 larva.

Remarks. The dark wingpad larva was collected in a leaf pack near a mountain laurel ( Kalmia latifolia ) growing on a limestone rock. The specimen was fed chironomid larvae during rearing. Pescador et al. (2000) reported a male specimen from Blue Springs Creek in Jackson County (adjacent to Gadsden Co.) originally identified as P. placida by Frison in 1940 from the Illinois Natural History Survey collection that is probably P. shubuta . However, the specimen has slightly shriveled paraprocts making a definitive determination not possible. Both Crooked Creek and Blue Springs Creek are tributaries of the Apalachicola River which has its headwaters located north of Atlanta, Georgia in the southern Appalachians.