The larva of Hydropsyche doehleri Tobias 1972, based on Swiss material (Hydropsychidae, Trichoptera)

Abstract

This paper describes the previously unknown larva of Hydropsyche doehleri Tobias 1972. Species association was enabled by the fact that both larval and adult specimens were collected at the same location and that H. doehleri was the only Hydropsychidae collected at this site, based on light-trap samples of adults. In addition, association of larvae with adult males and females were performed using DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase region. Information on the morphology of the larva is given, and the most important diagnostic features separating H. doehleri from its sister taxon H. siltalai Döhler 1963 are discussed. In both species, gills are lacking on abdominal segment VII. In the context of the Hydropsychidae key of Waringer & Graf (2011), the two species can be separated by the morphology and coloration of the frontoclypeal apotome, and by their distribution patterns: whereas H. siltalai is widespread in Europe, H. doehleri has been reported from only France, Italy, and southern Switzerland (Tessin). #We dedicate this paper to Univ. Prof. Dr Hans Malicky on the occasion of his 85th birthday.

Longitudinal zonation of larval Hydropsyche (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae): abiotic environmental factors and biotic interactions behind the downstream sequence of Central European species

“…Neu & Tobias, 2004;Robert, 2004) as a member of the Central European caddisfly fauna, has not been caught since 1938, and widely considered to be extinct (Malicky, 2014), thus not treated in this review. The Hydropsyche doehleri Tobias, 1972 has also been excluded from our review, because this species basically has Mediterranean distribution (Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica) and its range only marginally reaches the Central European region in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland (Vincentini et al, 2020).…”

Tools for instar determination of European caddisfly larvae (Insecta: Trichoptera)

“…In the context of larval taxonomy, the staging of unknown larvae is also essential. In cases where species affiliation between adults and larvae cannot be based on DNA sequences from the "barcode region" of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase region (e.g., Vicentini et al 2020) or on discarded larval sclerites in a pupation shelter or cocoon with exuviae of a mature pupa enclosing an identifiable pharate adult ("metamorphotype method, " Milne 1938), this affiliation is often based on the fact that identifiable adults and conspecific larvae are collected at the same site. Obviously, for the subsequent descriptions, knowledge whether the material belongs to the final, penultimate, or earlier instar becomes essential (Waringer & Graf 2020).…”