Explanation of Names
Stygoparnus comalensis Barr and Spangler 1992
comalensis is a reference to the species' type locality, Comal springs.
Numbers
Monotypic genus (Barr & Spangler 1992)
Identification
vestigial (non-functional) eyes, weakly pigmented, translucent, and thin-skinned.
Range
Comal springs, Comal Co., and Fern Bank springs, Hays Co., Texas.
Habitat
Dryopid beetles live primarily in flowing, uncontaminated waters.
This species is the first subterranean aquatic member of its family to be discovered (Barr and Spangler 1992).
Although larvae have been collected in drift nets positioned over the spring openings, they are presumed to be associated with air-filled voids inside the spring orifices since all other known dryopid larvae are terrestrial. The Comal Springs Dryopid Beetle does not swim, and it may have a rather restricted range within the Edwards Aquifer.
Remarks
Federally listed endangered species in 1997., Texas Parks & Wildlife considers this to be a "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" (SGCN)
(1)
first collected in 1987 and described as a new genus and species in 1992 by Barr (California State University) and Spangler (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution).
Print References
Barr, C.B. 1993. Survey for two Edwards Aquifer invertebrates: Comal Springs dryopid beetle Stygoparnus comalensis Barr and Spangler (Coleoptera: Dryopidae) and Peck's cave amphipod Stygobromus pecki Holsinger (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae). Prepared for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 70 pp.
Barr, C.B., and P.J. Spangler. 1992. A new genus and species of stygobiontic dryopid beetle, Stygoparnus comalensis (Coleoptera: Dryopidae), from Comal Springs, Texas. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 105(1): 40-54.
Contributed by
Mike Quinn on 13 June, 2009 - 9:12am
Last updated 3 November, 2022 - 2:46pm
