Diversity and distribution of the Caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) of Ecuador

Abstract

BackgroundAquatic insects and other freshwater animals are some of the most threatened forms of life on Earth. Caddisflies (Trichoptera) are highly biodiverse in the Neotropics and occupy a wide variety of freshwater habitats. In Andean countries, including Ecuador, knowledge of the aquatic biota is limited, and there is a great need for baseline data on the species found in these countries. Here we present the first list of Trichoptera known from Ecuador, a country that harbors two global biodiversity “hotspots.”MethodsWe conducted a literature review of species previously reported from Ecuador and supplemented these data with material we collected during five recent field inventories from about 40 localities spanning both hotspots. Using species presence data for each Ecuadorian province, we calculated the CHAO 2 species estimator to obtain the minimum species richness for the country.ResultsWe recorded 310 species, including 48 new records from our own field inventories for the country. CHAO 2 calculations showed that only 54% of the species have been found. Hydroptilidae and Hydropsychidae were the most species rich families. We report the family Xiphocentronidae for the first time from Ecuador as well as several new records of genera from different families.DiscussionAs in the neighboring Andean countries of Colombia and Peru, it is common to find undescribed species of caddisflies. There are vast areas of Ecuador and the northern Andes that are completely unexplored, and we expect that hundreds of new species are yet to be discovered.

Secondary production of caddisflies reflects environmental heterogeneity among tropical Andean streams

“…Larvae that we collected could not be identified to the species level after consulting with national experts (Blanca Ríos-Touma, Universidad de las Américas, Quito, and Patricio Andino, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Quito, personal communication), although all belonged to the subgenus ''Cochliopsyche'' (Johanson, 1998). However, it is unlikely that individual Ecuadorian highland streams contain [1 sympatric Helicopsyche species (Ríos-Touma et al, 2017), such that life history analysis within each of our study reaches applies to single species. Comparisons of life history and secondary production among our three stream reaches are intended for ecological understanding of the responses and role of the important grazer taxon Helicopsyche, with no underlying assumption that all streams contain the same species.…”

Two new species of the rare Neotropical caddisfly genus Amphoropsyche Holzenthal (Trichoptera, Leptoceridae)

“…Similarly, A. carchi is the 4th species recorded or described from Ecuador. Even with our recent concentrated efforts to expand the knowledge of Ecuadorian Trichoptera (Ríos-Touma et al 2017) and our studies in Peru, the localities and the number of individuals known for Amphoropsyche are very limited. Given the apparent localized distribution of the species in this genus, it is highly probable that any specimens of this genus discovered in the future will be new to science, especially with increased sampling effort and the exploration of new regions in the other northern and central Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela).…”

New species and a new genus of Philopotamidae from the Andes of Bolivia and Ecuador (Insecta, Trichoptera)

“…Neotropical areas, especially the Tropical Andes, harbor an incredible and unexplored Trichoptera diversity (Ríos-Touma et al 2017). More than 3000 species of Trichoptera have been recorded from the region, including 377 extant species in five genera of Philopotamidae: Alterosa (39 species), Chimarra (256 species), Chimarrhodella (12 species), Sortosa (20 species), and Wormaldia (50 species) (Holzenthal and Calor 2017).…”