Stoneflies of Late Winter

If you spend any amount of time near flowing water at this time of year, as the days start to warm up, you may notice some insects crawling around on the snow. They may just happen to be winter stoneflies (Family Capniidae)! There are 26 species of Capniids in Eastern Canada, represented by eight genera. 

Allocapnia female

Allocapnia male

I went out this afternoon and searched for winter stoneflies along the banks of the Medway Creek in London. I found quite a few! I ended up collecting some, and using a key, I identified them as Common Snowfly (Allocapnia granulata). Below is a female. 

Process on sternite 8, distinctively shaped! 

Identification of these insects is a tedious process involving a microscope, but its always satisfying when you reach a reasonable conclusion and are able to assign a name to something! 

I'll be definitely keeping an eye out for more stoneflies. Even if you don't intend to make a specific ID, keep an eye to the ground, and maybe you'll see one of these neat bugs! 

Recent Happenings

Last post I predicted that the first Red-winged Blackbird of the season would show up last weekend. That has not happened yet! I suspect within the next week I will see the first, hopefully by March Break at least! February 29th is the latest date I have seen them arrive in the neighborhood (for as long as I have been keeping tabs anyways). Still have a chance to "tie" that, but looks as though we will be pushing the arrival further into March!

Last weekend I took advantage of the nice weather and went out to one of London's ESAs (Environmentally Significant Areas). I was intending to scout out a spot I suspected had Mudpuppies and that I could potentially return to at night. Alas, I found that the water was just too deep, cold, and fast moving to carry out said operation with any success. Perhaps if I had waders (which I don't because they don't make them in my size!)

I did note a few other things in the shallower parts, such as some aquatic plants and river mussels.

Plain Pocketbook (Lampsilis cardium)

Giant Floater Mussel (Pyganodon grandis)

I found a neat genus of moss, Fontinalis, which attaches itself to rocks submerged underwater. I found a couple other species of moss that were submerged, however I was unable to ID them (as of yet anyways, grabbed a couple samples!).

Fontinalis dalecarlica

Fish were surprisingly scarce. I only caught one, and in addition saw another one which narrowly escaped my net, which was likely a Central Stoneroller.

Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum)

I explored the forest a little bit too.

White Ash (Fraxinus americana)

Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)

Common Buckthorn (

Rhamnus cathartica)

This is Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus). It is similar to the American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) I found last week, however it is an invasive species.

I found a nice Butternut tree (Juglans cinerea).

Unfortunate for the tree, but interesting for me was the presence of Butternut Canker (Sirococcus clavigignenti-juglandacearum). Butterut Canker is a fungus that (I am pretty sure anyways) will eventually kill the tree.

There were a number of small insects taking advantage of the warmer weather, including many stoneflies. I am pretty sure they are of the species Allocapnia maria.

Of course, I am always on the lookout for interesting fungus.

Coryne Dubia

Crystal Brain (Exidia nucleata)

Jelly Spot (Dacrymyces stillatus)

On a side note, my friend Nathan just started a blog. Currently he is documenting his attempt at a Waterloo county big year. Go check it out here!