Western North American Naturalist Volume 62 Number 4 Article 1 10-28-2002 Stoneflies (Plecoptera) of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington B. C. Kondratieff Colorado State University, Fort Collins Richard A. Lechleitner Mount Ranier National Park, Ashford, Washington Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan Recommended Citation Kondratieff, B. C. and Lechleitner, Richard A. (2002) "Stoneflies (Plecoptera) of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington," Western North American Naturalist: Vol. 62 : No. 4 , Article 1. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan/vol62/iss4/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Western North American Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Western North American Naturalist 62(4), © 2002, pp. 385–404 STONEFLIES (PLECOPTERA) OF MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, WASHINGTON B.C. Kondratieff1 and Richard A. Lechleitner2 ABSTRACT.—Mount Rainier National Park, with an area of 95,356 ha, is approximately one-third as large as the state of Rhode Island. The lowest point is 490 m in elevation in the southeastern corner near where the Ohanapecosh River crosses the southern boundary. Columbia Crest is the highest point at 4392 m. The entire park is a rugged landscape marked by the major topographical feature, Mount Rainier, comprising over 25,899 ha, almost one-third of the park. The park lies entirely west of the crest line of the Cascade Range. Most streams in the park originate on Mount Rainier; however, several large rivers meander through the park near its boundaries. One of the first attempts to summarize the stoneflies of Washington, including Mount Rainier National Park, was Hoppe’s 1938 work that reported ca 8 species. Jewett (1959) reviewed the stoneflies of the Pacific Northwest and listed 7 species that had type localities in the park: Megaleuctra kincaidi Frison, Doddsia occidentalis (Banks), Soliperla fenderi ( Jewett), Frisonia picticeps (Hanson), Isoperla rainiera Jewett, Megarcys irregularis (Banks), and M. subtruncata (Hanson). Subsequently, Kathroperla takhoma Stark and Surdick (1987) was described from the park. Samples of adult stoneflies from 1994 to 2001 indicate the presence of at least 82 species, with 64% of these typical Pacific Northwest species, and 30 species, or 36%, widespread western North American species. Seventeen new Washington state records are listed, including a substantial range extension for Lednia tumana (Ricker). One undescribed species in the Sweltsa borealis complex was also discovered. We also present illustrations of male terminalia for Despaxia augusta (Banks) and Moselia infuscata (Claassen) to aid in the identification of these species. Key words: stoneflies, Plecoptera, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. Mount Rainier National Park is in Lewis collapse, and erosion. It has been estimated and Pierce counties on the western slope of that the cone was once about 600 m higher than the Cascade Range of Washington State. Mount it is now. Even before Mount Rainier reached Rainier is located approximately 65–110 km its greatest height, rivers and glaciers were from the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area cutting deep valleys and huge, bowl-shaped known as Puget Sound (Fig. 1). The park area cirques into its sides. During the last major is 95,356 ha, and elevations range from 490 m glaciation, which ended about 10,000 years above sea level to 4392 m at the summit. ago, the valley glaciers grew to as much as 60 Mount Rainier, one of the highest and topo- km long, and smaller glaciers nestled in cirques graphically most impressive of the world’s above 1400 m. The peak has essentially re- volcanoes, owes its scenic beauty to many fea- mained the same in appearance since the last tures. The broad cone rises about 2300 m major glaciations. The last major eruption of above its 2100-m foundation and stands in the volcano occurred about 2000 years ago, solitary splendor as the highest peak in the although the last eruption was approximately Cascade Range. Its rocky ice/snow-mantled 150 years ago (Mullineaux 1974). slopes above timberline contrast with the dense Mount Rainier is situated within a temper- green forests, giving Mount Rainier the appear- ate, maritime climate. Several climatic zones ance of an arctic island in a temperate sea. exist elevationally and geographically around There are 26 major glaciers on Mount Rainier the park. However, the east-southeast side of and numerous unnamed snow or ice patches. the park is generally the driest, and the north- Mount Rainier was born during the Pleisto- west side is the wettest sector (especially dur- cene, and gradually the high main cone was ing spring and summer months). Annual precip- built up. As eruptions diminished, Mount itation is heavy, ranging from about 1.5 m at Rainier began to deteriorate by explosion, lowest elevations to over 2.5 m in the subalpine 1Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. 2Mount Rainier National Park, Tahoma Woods, Star Route, Ashford, WA 98304. 385 386 WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN NATURALIST [Volume 62 Fig. 1. Map of western Washington, indicating Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. regions. Because southwesterly winds bear rivers are the exception, flowing into the Cow- much of the moisture, a rain shadow occurs on litz River, outside the park, and then draining the northeast side of the park. Over 90% of the into the Columbia River and on to the Pacific precipitation occurs between November and Ocean. Each major river occupies a deep can- April. Much of the winter precipitation is snow yon, its floor 300–1000 m below the adjacent that accumulates into depths of 6 to 8 m at divides. Valley floor gradients are steep and in- higher elevations. At Paradise the average crease markedly upstream, especially in Tahoma annual snowfall is about 17 m, with over 26 m Creek, North and South Puyallup and Mowich of snow during the winter of 1998–99. Winter rivers. The park includes 470 mapped rivers temperatures are relatively warm (mean January and streams, some 400 mapped lakes and ponds, temperatures of about –4° to –1°C). Summers and over 1200 ha of other wetland types, in- tend to be cool (mean July temperatures of 10° cluding numerous thermal and mineral springs. to 20°C), and extended periods of cloudiness About 800 species of plants are known from are not uncommon. July and August are usu- the park (Franklin et al. 1988), reflecting the ally comparatively dry. Fog and high winds may varied climatic and environmental conditions be expected any day of the year. encountered across the 3800-m elevation gra- The topography of the park is rugged and dient. Approximately 58% of the park is covered precipitous, consisting mainly of peaks and by forests, mostly old-growth stands ranging valleys. Nine major rivers and their tributaries from 200 to 1000 years old. The subalpine drain the flanks of the mountain, with all but 2 parkland covers approximately 23% of the flowing into Puget Sound near Tacoma, Wash- park; vegetation in this zone is a mosaic of tree ington. The Muddy Fork and Ohanapecosh clumps and herbaceous meadows extending 2002] MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK STONEFLIES 387 from 1500 m to about 2200 m elevation. The Jewett (1959) in his review of the stoneflies alpine zone extends from treeline to the of the Pacific Northwest listed 7 species that mountain’s summit and covers approximately had type localities in the park: Megaleuctra 19% of the park. Permanent snow and ice cover kincaidi Frison, D. occidentalis, Soliperla fend- half of the alpine zone, with fragile alpine vege- eri ( Jewett), Frisonia picticeps, (Hanson), I. tation growing on rock and soil outcrops. rainiera Jewett, M. irregularis, and M. sub- According to historic records, coho (silver) truncata (Hanson). Szczytko and Stewart (1979) salmon, chinook, and steelhead were once pres- included a paratype female for I. bifurcata ent in many of the park’s major rivers before from Longmire; and Stark and Surdick (1987) the construction of dams outside the park. described Kathroperla takhoma from Falls Chinook, steelhead, and coho are now trans- Creek. Table 1 summarizes the primary type ported around some dams in an effort to re- localities in the park. Paradise Valley was rela- store these anadromous fish runs, thereby tively easy to access in the early history of the allowing access to the headwaters in the park. park, and a resort was established there. These fish species are thought to occur in the Our study had 2 main objectives: to docu- White and Carbon rivers inside the park. Bull ment the general distribution of stoneflies of trout are present throughout the park. In addi- Mount Rainier National Park, and to provide information on endemic, rare, or potentially tion to native fish species, nonnative and threatened species. Stoneflies are known to be hatchery fish have been introduced to lakes major indicators of water quality (Baumann and streams in the park. Nonnative and hatch- 1979) and are often dominant food-web com- ery fish stocks have probably altered natural ponents of most temperate lotic ecosystems lake and stream ecosystems. (Stewart and Stark 1988). Knowledge of the One of the first attempts to summarize the occurrence and distribution of these insects stoneflies for the state of Washington, including will help serve as a basis for future biomoni- Mount Rainier National Park, was the work of toring programs as dramatic land-use changes Hoppe (1938). She reported at least 8 species occur in adjacent areas. from the park: Yoraperla brevis (Banks) (as Pel- toperia [sic] brevis), Megarcys irregularis (Banks) METHODS (as Perlodes irregularis), Claassenia sabulosa (Banks) (as Perla languida Needham and Claas- We sampled over 110 sites between 1994 sen), Isoperla sordida Banks, I.