First record of mayfly Povilla (Languidipes) taprobanes Hubbard from Karnataka

Abstract

Mayflies are important as macroinvertebrates of aquatic ecosystems and are reliable bioindicators of water quality. Most mayfly nymphs feed by scraping algae from underwater rocks or by extracting food particles in the littoral and benthic zones of the water bodies. The mayfly Povilla (Languidipes) taprobanes originally described from Sri Lanka was observed in plastic lined ponds in coastal Karnataka. Not only, this is the first report of the species from Karnataka, but the unique case making behaviour of this species is also described for the first time. Additionally, the species was found damaging plastic tarpaulins of 750 gsm thickness used as lining for water storage in the tank by chewing. This chewing behaviour was responsible for damage of plastic sheets leading to water leakage. The possible loss caused and a need of alternate strategies to store water is discussed.

A new species of Languidipes Hubbard (Ephemeroptera, Polymitarcyidae) from Borneo

“…It is possible that the males described here as L. janae represent the adult stage of one of them, but this seems unlikely. Nevertheless, we prefer to describe the new species because it constitutes the unique record from Borneo, and its size is relatively smaller than the other species ( Hubbard, 1984 ; Rathinakumar, Kubendran & Balasubramanian, 2019 ; Bolotov et al, 2022 ; Pai et al, 2023 ). While we believe that obtaining a DNA barcode would have been very helpful for the future association of nymphs or female adults, this technique couldn’t be pursued due to the nature of the available material.…”

“…The mandibular tusks of the immature forms are used to dig tunnels in a variety of underwater sediments, including mud, clay and even siliceous rocks ( Molineri, Salles & Peters, 2015 ; Bolotov et al, 2022 ). In addition they produce silk from the malpighian ducts, allowing them to coat their tunnels with a thin mesh of this material ( Sattler, 1967 ), or even to construct silk cases where tunnels are impossible to dig ( Molineri & Emmerich, 2010 ; Pai et al, 2023 ). Furthermore, adults are so short-lived that they do not present functional legs (except for the male forelegs, used to grasp females during copula), spending their entire life in flight.…”

“…Languidipes corporaali (Lestage) was subsequently recorded from other Indonesian localities (Sumatra and Simeulue), as well as from Malaysia and Thailand ( Baumgardner et al, 2012 ). The genus Languidipes also includes the species L. taprobanes ( Hubbard, 1984 ) ( Hubbard, 1984 ; Rathinakumar, Kubendran & Balasubramanian, 2019 ; Pai et al, 2023 ), from India and Sri Lanka, and the recently described L. lithophagus ( Bolotov et al, 2022 ) from Myanmar.…”