[H-TT16] Development and application of environmental traceability methods

[HTT16-07] A comparative study of diet of winged and wingless stoneflies on alpine snow in Mt. Gassan, Yamagata Prefecture, using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes

*Nozomu Takeuchi¹, Risako Yonechi¹ (1.Chiba University)

Keywords:wingless stonefly, Gassan, stable isotope

Wingless-stoneflies are commonly observed in spring on the snow surface in Japan. Lack of wing in adult of the stoneflies is consider to be adaptive to cold environment. On the same snow surface, we also often find winged-stoneflies, which appear to be different species and to come accidentally from the downstream area without snow. However, recent studies showed some stoneflies enable to control the presence of wing in the adult stage depending on the environmental conditions. However, there has been no comparative study of ecology and morphology between wingless and winged stoneflies on snow surface in Japan. We collected the wingless and winged stoneflies on snow surface of Mt. Gassan in Yamagata prefecture in Japan. We described their morphology, distribution, and timing of appearance, and analyzed carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of their body to compare their diet. Results showed that the wingless and winged stoneflies have distinctive morphology and distribution. The stable isotopes were also significantly different between them. Results suggest that the wingless and winged stoneflies have distinctive ecology although both of them are active on the snow surface at the same time.