As part of entomology graduate student Lily Hart’s research in the DeWalt Lab, a detailed checklist of stoneflies (Plecoptera) in Arkansas was developed, with findings recently published in the Biodiversity Data Journal. The study, titled The Stoneflies (Plecoptera) of Arkansas: A Checklist Compiled from Museum Specimen Data, provides an extensive inventory of these important aquatic insects found in the state, aiding in future biodiversity assessments and ecological studies.
Stoneflies are crucial indicators of water quality, serving as a key component in assessing the health of freshwater ecosystems. The new checklist is based on years of meticulous research and data compilation, utilizing museum specimens to document stonefly species across various regions of Arkansas. This significant work contributes to a deeper understanding of the distribution and diversity of these insects in the state, paving the way for further ecological investigations.
“I began working on gathering the data for this project over a year ago,” said Hart. “It has been a lot of work and collaboration with many people from many institutions. I have a very solid support system here at Illinois and the Illinois Natural History Survey, and I couldn’t have completed this work without all their help and guidance. This publication highlights just the first half of my master’s thesis work. I will be updating this dataset once I’ve collected more stoneflies and I will hopefully be doing some molecular work.”
The research involved analyzing over a century’s worth of specimen data, curated from multiple institutions. It provides a reliable source for conservationists, researchers, and environmental managers working on freshwater habitats. This checklist not only enhances the scientific community's knowledge but also assists in monitoring changes in species distribution and in the conservation of freshwater ecosystems across the state.
By documenting and organizing data on Arkansas’ stonefly populations, the study fills a gap in the state's entomological knowledge and offers a valuable resource for future biodiversity and conservation efforts.
“I think research like this shows the importance of all museum collections,” said Hart. “We need to collect natural history specimens so that we have a reference of what has been here and when. This allows us to understand our changing environment at a time when more and more museum collections are becoming abandoned by their institutions. The elusive stoneflies the public may come across if they wander into a stream are important to monitoring waterbodies in our ecosystems.”