Riekoperla darlingtoni

The insect

Riekoperla darlingtoni is an insect in the family Gripopterygidae (order Plecoptera).

Range and habitat

Riekoperla darlingtoni is found on Mount Donna Buang, a mountain peak in the Victorian Central Highlands that lies in one of the oldest and highest areas of dissected Palaeozoic rocks (formed approximately 500 million years ago) in the vicinity. The area providing habitat for Riekoperla darlingtoni supports tall sclerophyll forest dominated by alpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) with myrtle beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) as a dominant understory tree species. The surrounding forest is dominated by mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans).

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Life history

Life history follows the order: complete metamorphosis in moths and beetles, nymphs in grasshoppers and bugs. This page does not invent a host plant that no source named.

In crisis

This area is protected within the Yarra Ranges National Park, but threats still remain. Fuel or herbicide spillages, changes in hydrology, and a proposed Mountain Bike Track called the Warburton Mountain Bike Destination allegedly threaten Mount Donna Buang Stonefly. The Mount Donna Buang Stonefly has recently been reassessed as Critically Endangered under Victorian State legislation, the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

Riekoperla darlingtoni is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Riekoperla darlingtoni, Wikidata item Q5463689. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.