Sean Sullivan

The larva of the aquatic dance fly genus Proclinopyga Melander is described for the first time. The larval association with adult stages was facilitated using COI mitochondrial DNA barcode sequences. The larvae of Proclinopyga are found in coarse substrates of riffles and other swift-flowing sections of streams and small rivers. The larvae infrequently occur in benthic samples collected from these habitat types, where they may co-occur with the larvae of other Empididae genera. The final instar larva is described and illustrated and a key to the larvae of genera of Clinocerinae of North America is updated.

The North American species of Baetis Leach (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) are reviewed. Nearly one-third of species are either unknown or inadequately described in the larval stage, a fact not reflected in most keys or standard taxonomic efforts for bioassessment, which typically recommend species-level identifications of larvae. Furthermore, our new observations indicate that some previously published stage associations should be viewed as only tentative, and molecular evidence suggests that current species taxonomy does not reflect biological species. In order to acknowledge these deficiencies, but at the same time provide a degree of higher taxonomic resolution beyond the genus level, we recommend a scheme for identifications incorporating previously established species groups and the species complexes and species included within them. Species complexes are proposed for instances when there are either multiple species that cannot be differentiated in the larval stage or when multiple lines of evidence indicate more than one actual species is included in a single species concept. Complexes include B. flavistriga complex (B. flavistriga McDunnough + B. phoebus McDunnough + B. rusticans McDunnough), B. intercalaris complex (B. intercalaris McDunnough), B. vernus complex (B. brunneicolor McDunnough + B. vernus Curtis), B. bicaudatus complex (B. bicaudatus Dodds), B. tricaudatus complex (B. tricaudatus Dodds), and B. piscatoris complex (B. piscatoris Traver + B. palisadi Mayo + B. persecutus McDunnough [=B. persecutor McCafferty n. obj. syn]). A new larval identification key incorporating the B. piscatoris complex is provided.

Two males and a female of Zaitzevia posthonia Brown 2001 were collected from a shallow riffle in a swift, second-order stream west of the continental divide near Lincoln, Montana. This new record confirms the presence of the species in the state, and extends the range of the species 267 km northeast of the nearest previously known record.