A study of the rare wingless stonefly, Riekoperla darlingtoni (Illies), near Mt Donna Buang, Victoria.  F. G. Neumann and J. L. Morey.  August 1984.  7 pp. (unpubl.)

SUMMARY

A study during spring and summer 1982 and 1983 of the wingless stonefly Riekoperla darlingtoni (Illies), at elevations between 700 and 1200 m on the southern slopes of Mt Donna Buang in the Central Highlands of Victoria, confirmed that this species occurs in low numbers at any one place and has a very limited habitat range and distribution, and indicated that it may possibly be an endangered species.

Nymphs were found during spring, in trickles of water along the drainage path of a track running due south from an existing carpark off Donna Buang Road, at an elevation of about 1190 m. Adults were recovered during spring, and up to the third week of December, from within curled-up strips of Eucalyptus delegatensis R. T. Baker (alpine ash) bark. The bark was suspended from low vegetation along man-made tracks or natural drainage courses in forest at between 1180 and 1200 m elevation, especially where Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.) Oerst. (myrtle beech) was the predominant understorey tree species.

Because R. darlingtoni was found in a natural drainage course running north-west of Donna Buang Road and on the opposite side of the road to a proposed carpark, 0.50-0.75 km away, and because a viable population of this species inhabits a drainage path very close to an existing carpark, it was concluded that the proposed construction works, or drainage from the completed carpark, is unlikely to endanger the continued existence of R. darlingtoni on the southern slopes of Mt Donna Buang.