Hyporheic zone, a blind spot: Discovery of the larva of Kisaura (Trichoptera: Philopotamidae) from Japan

Abstract

Four genera of Philopotamidae (Trichoptera) are known from Japan: Chimara, Dolophilodes, Kisaura, and Wormaldia. Among them, adults of the genus Kisaura are known in the Oriental and East Palearctic region; but until now, larvae of this genus have not been observed. In this study, molecular evidence is presented to support the relationship between adults and larvae of Kisaura minakawai Arefina 2005 from hyporheic zones of Japanese rivers. Morphological features of the larva of K. minakawai, which include very small eyes and somewhat dorsoventrally flattened (depressed) head capsules, compared with those of other philopotamid species, are also suggested to be adapted to the hyporheic zone. Detailed morphology of K. minakawai larval characters are provided.

Cryptic connectivity between hyporheic and riparian zones via winged aquatic insects revealed by DNA barcoding

“…This species was relatively minor in Leuctridae (in adults, 8.7% of the total number of Leuctridae) with a relatively small body (smaller by >50% than the two other species); thus, the bias of hyporheic insect abundance and biomass caused by the inclusion of this species was minor. It was only recently that elusive larvae of Philopotamidae ( Kisaura minakawai ) were found in the HZ (Torii et al, 2022). Likewise, our extensive field sampling found only a few larvae of Philopotamidae in the HZ at a very low abundance.…”

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted November 9, 2023. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.07.565981 doi: bioRxiv preprint in techniques using genetic barcoding markers can substantially facilitate species identification, including adult-larva relationships of aquatic insects and meiofaunal communities (Ruiter et al, 2013;Weigand et al, 2018;Chen et al, 2023) regardless of their size and incomplete larval taxonomic keys. Although this field has great potential, there have been limited cases of hyporheic insects (Torii et al, 2022).…”