1985] 
Schmidt & Tarter — Acroneuria carolinensis 
403 
following flight periods for Acroneuria sp. and related genera from 
Virginia: A. arenosa, late June to early July; A. abnormis, through- 
out June; Eccoptura xanthanes, late May through mid-July. Allen 
and Tarter (1985) reported E. xanthanes emerged from 11 June to 
14 July in Kentucky. 
In a separate study, A. carolinensis naiads and adults were to be 
collected at Panther Creek in the spring of 1985. On 25 May no final 
instar naiads were collected. On 2 June a single final instar naiad 
was found after two hours of sampling. These findings suggested 
that emergence had taken place in mid-May, three weeks earlier 
than 1984 emergence. The weather in April 1985 was unseasonably 
warm, and perhaps induced early emergence. Harper and Pilon 
(1971) studied the emergence of A. abnormis for three years (1958, 
1959, 1966). They found little temperature difference between the 
emergence curves, but cooler temperatures in 1958 had delayed 
emergence for two weeks. 
Fecundity. Of the 19 adults examined, only seven contained 
mature eggs. Therefore, mature eggs and immature eggs of compar- 
able size were counted. Direct egg count resulted in a range of 10 to 
800 eggs (X = 239) per female. There was little correlation between 
body length and number of eggs (r = 0.56). 
Egg size. Acroneuria carolinensis eggs were oval in shape. Mean 
length was 0.43 mm (range 0.38-0.48 mm), mean diameter was 0.33 
mm (range 0.29-0.38 mm). Stark and Gaufin (1976) provided elec- 
tron micrographs of the eggs and gave detailed descriptions. From 
the material examined by Stark and Gaufin (1976), two types of ova 
were found. They suspect two closely related species are involved 
and suggested additional studies of the complex. 
Summary 
The life history and ecology of Acroneuria carolinensis from 
Panther Creek, Nicholas County, West Virginia were studied from 
December 1983 to November 1984. Length-frequency distribution 
indicated a two-year life cycle. The largest naiads (26.0 mm) were 
collected in February, April and May. Females and males exhibited 
greatest growth in August (28%) and October (21%), respectively. 
Naiads underwent 25 instars. A chi-square test applied to 72 males 
and 152 females showed a deviation (0.05 confidence level) from the 
expected 1:1 sex ratio. Naiads were carnivorous in their feeding 
