AnacroIndex: the first step towards interactive identification for Anacroneuria Klapálek, 1909 (Plecoptera: Perlidae)

Anacroneuria is the genus of Plecoptera with the greatest species richness - around 400 species - encompassing more than 10% of the order's known diversity. It is one of the most frequently collected genera in the Neotropical region, where all its species are found. While reliable species identification is crucial for taxonomic, ecological, and biomonitoring research, the genus includes a large number of poorly described species - mainly for adults -, some of which share a high degree of morphological similarity. The dichotomous nature of traditional keys may pose challenges to identification in genera such as Anacroneuria, and new identification tools can attenuate these difficulties. Thus, this work aims to produce the first step of an interactive, multi-access identification key for the males of the species of Anacroneuria. In this work, the first iteration of the key is released with the species found in Southeastern Brazil - which includes almost half of the species found in Brazil. The key currently covers 36 species by means of 15 characters - one of the largest taxon coverages and highest efficiencies in the genus to date. The key is housed in Xper3, a database for interactive identification, and in collaborative efforts the project will expand its species coverage.