An Annotated List of Aquatic Insects of Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Excluding Diptera with Notes on Several New State Records

• Published in: Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 2006-01, Vol.79 (1), p.34-54
• Main Authors: Zuellig, Robert E., Kondratieff, Boris C., Schmidt, Jason P., Durfee, Richard S., Ruiter, David E., Prather, Inez E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic insects; Archery ranges; Beetles; Biological taxonomies; Coleoptera; Creeks; Entomology; Ephemeroptera; Fort Sill; Heteroptera; Megaloptera; Mountain ranges; Neuroptera; Odonata; Oklahoma; Plecoptera; Ponds; Streams; Trichoptera
• ISSN: 0022-8567; 1937-2353
• DOI: 10.2317/505.03.1

Qualitative collections of aquatic insects were made at Fort Sill, Lawton, Oklahoma, between 2002 and 2004. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Odonata, Coleoptera, aquatic Heteroptera, Neuroptera, and Megaloptera were targeted. Additional records are included from a survey that took place in 1999. More than 11,000 specimens from more than 290 collections were examined. Based on the current understanding of aquatic insect systematics, 276 taxa distributed over 8 orders, 46 families, and 141 genera were identified. Twenty-three of the 276 taxa, Plauditus texanus Wiersema, Tricorythodes allectus (Needham), Palmacorixa nana walleyi Hungerford, Climacia chapini Parfin and Gurney, Oxyethira forcipata Mosely, Oxyethira janella Denning, Triaenodes helo Milne, Ylodes frontalis (Banks), Acilius fraternus Harris, Coptotomus loticus Hilsenhoff, Coptotomus venustus (Say), Desmopachria dispersa Crotch, Graphoderus liberus (Say), Hydrovatus pustulatus (Melsheimer), Hygrotus acaroides (LeConte), Liodessus flavicollis (LeConte), Uvarus texanus (Sharp), Gyrinus woodruffi Fall, Haliplus fasciatus Aube, Haliplus lewisii Crotch, Haliplus tortilipenis Brigham & Sanderson, Chaetarthria bicolor Sharp, Epimetopus costatus complex, and Hydrochus simplex LeConte are reported from Oklahoma for the first time. The three most diverse orders included Coleoptera (86 species), Odonata (67 species) and Trichoptera (59 species), and the remaining taxa were distributed among Heteroptera, (30 species), Ephemeroptera (21 species), Plecoptera (6 species), Megaloptera (4 species), and Neuroptera (3 species). Based on previous published records, many of the species collected during this study were expected to be found at Fort Sill; however, 276 taxa of aquatic insects identified from such a small geographic area is noteworthy, especially when considering local climatic conditions and the relatively small size of Fort Sill (38,300 ha). Despite agricultural practices in Oklahoma, the dust bowl days, and the development of water-based recreation at Fort Sill, a high percentage of the total known aquatic insect fauna of Oklahoma can be found in a small geographic area.