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A new genus and species of Philopotamidae (Trichoptera), Sumacodella elongata, is described from the southern slope of Volcán Sumaco in Ecuador. This new genus differs from other philopotamid genera by having very elongate, narrow anterolateral apodemes on segment IX and the inferior appendages, a very elongate and narrow tergum X, and a very elongate, tubular phallus. In addition, two new species of Wormaldia are also described and illustrated from Sumaco as well as three new Chimarra (Chimarra), one new Chimarra (Curgia), and one new Chimarra (Otarrha) from the eastern and western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is primarily based on collections in Tanzania and Ghana in 1990-1991 and 1991-1994, respectively. In all, 46 species of Chimarra were collected, 31 of them new species. All these species are illustrated or re-illustrated and described in the paper. Additionally, five species from Africa from collections in Illinois and Minnesota, four of them new, are included. This provided the incentive to review the species of Chimarra from the African subregion and assign the majority of them to species groups and subgroups. In the process, several species were synonymized. In all 147 valid species are recognized, of which 51 are treated in this paper. Two major species groups are recognized for Africa, the marginata Group and the georgensis Group. The former is based on the type species for the genus; this is the first formal characterization of this group, as distinct from other species groups in the subgenus. Mainland African species in the marginata Group mostly fall into four large species-diverse subgroups, but a number of smaller subgroups are also recognized. Membership in these subgroups is specified for the majority of African species and characters defining the subgroups informally discussed. The georgensis Group includes a single Asian species and nine previously described African species. They are assigned to two subgroups, one newly recognized in this paper. Several additional species were considered unassigned to subgroup within the georgensis Group. The majority of the new species described in this paper belong to the georgensis Group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new genus and species of Philopotamidae (Philopotaminae), Aymaradella boliviana, is described from the Bolivian Andes of South America. The new genus differs from other Philopotaminae by the loss of 2A vein in the hind wing and, in the male genitalia, the synscleritous tergum and sternum of segment VIII, and the elongate sclerotized dorsal processes of segment VIII. The first record of Hydrobiosella (Philopotaminae) in the New World is also provided with a new species from the Andes of Ecuador, Hydrobiosella andina. In addition, a new species of the Neotropical genus Chimarrhodella (Chimarrinae), Chimarrhodella choco, is described from the Choco-Andean region of Ecuador, and Chimarrhodella peruviana (Ross) is recorded from Ecuador for the first time. Lastly, Wormaldia imbrialis (Philopotaminae), new species, is described, also from the Ecuadorian Choco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The O. avara group of Oecetis is formally defined to include 4 described species, O. avara (Banks), O. disjuncta (Banks), O. elata Denning & Sykora, and O. metlacenis Bueno-Soria, and 15 new species. Oecetis marquesi Bueno-Soria, previously considered a member of the O. avara group, is treated as incertae sedis to species group, but is also redescribed and treated in the current work. New species described here (with their respective distributions) include: O. acciptrina (Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador), O. agosta (Mexico), O. angularis (Guatemala to Ecuador), O. apache (SW USA), O. campana (Ecuador), O. constricta (Mexico to Ecuador, Venezuela, and Trinidad), O. houghtoni (North America), O. maritza (Costa Rica), O. mexicana (Mexico to Ecuador), O. patula (Guatemala, Nicaragua), O. protrusa (Mexico to Ecuador), O. sordida (Mexico, USA, Canada), O. tumida (Costa Rica), O. uncata (Costa Rica), and O. verrucula (Mexico to Costa Rica). A key to the species is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecology Letters (2012) 15: 453-460 Abstract The host range of insect parasitoids and herbivores is influenced by both preference-related traits which mediate host choice behaviour, and performance-related traits which mediate the physiological suitability of the consumer-resource interaction. In a previous study, we characterised the influence of preference- and performance-related traits on the host range of the aphid parasitoid Binodoxys communis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and herein we build upon those data sets by mapping a series of these traits onto the phylogeny of the (aphid) host species. We found a strong effect of host phylogeny on overall parasitoid reproduction on the 20 host species tested, but no effect of the phylogeny of host plants of the aphids. We found an effect of aphid phylogeny on host acceptance and sting rates (related to preference) from behavioural observations and for pupal survivorship (related to performance), showing that both classes of traits show phylogenetic conservatism with respect to host species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten new Neotropical species of Chimarra are described in the subgenera Chimarra, Chimarrita, and Otarrha. New species in the subgenus Chimarra include, in the C. ortiziana group: C. calori sp. n. (southeastern Brazil) and C. onchyrhina sp. n. (Venezuela); in the C. picea group: C. inchoata sp. n. (Venezuela), C. nicehuh sp. n. (Venezuela), and C. sunima sp. n. (Colombia); and in the C. poolei group: C. cauca sp. n. (Colombia) and C. desirae sp. n. (Bolivia). New species in the subgenus Chimarrita include, in the C. simpliciforma group: C. curvipenis sp. n. (SE Brazil) and C. latiforceps sp. n. (SE Brazil). A single new species in the subgenus Otarrha is also described: C. soroa sp. n. (Cuba). Males and females for all of the new species are illustrated, except for C. desirae, for which female specimens were unavailable. Additionally, the female of C. (Chimarrita) camella, which was previously unknown, is illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new species of Notidobiella Schmid (Insecta: Trichoptera) are described from South America: Notidobiella amazoniana sp. n. (Brazil), N. brasiliana sp. n. (Brazil), and N. ecuadorensis sp. n. (Ecuador). In addition, the 3 previously described species in the genus, N. chacayana Schmid, N. inermis Flint, and N. parallelipipeda Schmid, all endemic to southern Chile, are redescribed and illustrated, including the females of each species for the first time, and a key to males of the species in the genus is provided. The occurrence of Notidobiella in Brazil and Ecuador represents a significant extension of the range of the genus beyond southern Chile where it previously was thought to be endemic. Th e biogeography of Sericostomatidae and other austral South American Trichoptera is reviewed. Th e presence of the family in South America may not be part of a "transantarctic" exchange, but instead may represent an earlier occurrence in the region. Th e distribution of Notidobiella in tropical South America likely represents recent dispersal from southern South America to the north. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trichoptera are holometabolous insects with aquatic larvae that, together with the Lepidoptera, comprise the Amphiesmenoptera. Previous phylogenetic hypotheses and progress on our ongoing data collection are summarized. Fragments of the large and small subunit nuclear ribosomal RNAs (D1, D3, V4–5), the nuclear elongation factor 1 alpha gene and a fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) were sequenced, and molecular data were combined with previously published morphological data. Equally and differentially weighted parsimony analyses were conducted in order to present a phylogeny of Trichoptera, including 43 of 45 families. Our phylogeny closely resembles that proposed by Herbert Ross with respect to the relationships among suborders, with a monophyletic Annulipalpia at the base of the tree, and a clade consisting of Spicipalpia plus a monophyletic Integripalpia. The monophyly of Spicipalpia is weakly supported in the combined equally weighted analysis, and Spicipalpia is paraphyletic in the differentially weighted analysis. Within Integripalpia, our phylogeny recovered monophyletic Plenitentoria, Brevitentoria and Sericostomatoidea. Leptoceroidea was unresolved in the equally weighted analysis and monophyletic in the differentially weighted analysis. Within Annulipalpia, we recovered a basal but paraphyletic Philopotamoidea and a monophyletic Hydropsychoidea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subgenus Otarrha is established in genus Chimarra to include eighteen described species formerly placed either in subgenus Chimarra or unplaced to subgenus, and thirteen new species. All species are Neotropical, with collective distributions primarily in the Antilles (Greater and Lesser) and northern South America. One species occurs in southeastern Brazil and another species in Costa Rica and Panama. New species are described, recognized species redescribed (except for C. diannae and C. koki), and a key to the identification of males in the subgenus is provided. Additionally, characters supporting monophyly of the subgenus and a phylogeny of its species are proposed. Described species transferred to this subgenus include Chimarra cubanorum Botosaneanu, C. diakis Flint, C. diannae Flint & Sykora, C. dominicana Flint, C. garciai Botosaneanu, C. guapa Botosaneanu, C. jamaicensis Flint, C. koki Botosaneanu, C. machaerophora Flint, C. patosa Ross, C. puertoricensis Flint, C. quadrifurcata Botosaneanu, C. retrorsa Flint, C. rossi Bueno-Soria, C. sensillata Flint, C. septemlobata Flint, C. septifera Flint and C. spinulifera Flint. Chimarra patosa is designated the type species of the subgenus. New species described in Otarrha include Chimarra amazonia (Peru), C. barinas (Venezuela), C. darlingtoni (Cuba), C. diaphora (Venezuela), C. incipiens (Venezuela), C. odonta (Brazil), C. parene (Peru), C. parilis (Peru), C. particeps (Peru), C. peruana (Peru), C. phthanorossi (Colombia), C. redonda (Dominican Republic) and C. tachuela (Venezuela). Two additional species are described and left incertae sedis to subgenus, Chimarra usitatissima Flint and C. angularis, sp.n. (Venezuela, Guyana). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trichoptera are holometabolous insects with aquatic larvae that, together with the Lepidoptera, make up the Amphiesmenoptera. Despite extensive previous morphological work, little phylogenetic agreement has been reached about the relationship among the three suborders—Annulipalpia, Spicipalpia, and Integripalpia—or about the monophyly of Spicipalpia. In an effort to resolve this conflict, we sequenced fragments of the large and small subunit nuclear ribosomal RNAs (1078 nt; D1, D3, V4-5), the nuclear elongation factor 1α gene (EF-1α; 1098 nt), and a fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI; 411 nt). Seventy adult and larval morphological characters were reanalyzed and added to molecular data in a combined analysis. We evaluated signal and homoplasy in each of the molecular datasets and attempted to rank the particular datasets according to how appropriate they were for inferring relationships among suborders. This evaluation included testing for conflict among datasets, comparing tree lengths among alternative hypotheses, measuring the left-skew of tree-length distributions from maximally divergent sets of taxa, evaluating the recovery of expected clades, visualizing whether or not substitutions were accumulating with time, and estimating nucleotide compositional bias. Although all these measures cast doubt on the reliability of the deep-level signal coming from the nucleotides of the COI and EF-1α genes, these data could still be included in combined analyses without overturning the results from the most conservative marker, the rRNA. The different datasets were found to be evolving under extremely different rates. A site-specific likelihood method for dealing with combined data with nonoverlapping parameters was proposed, and a similar weighting scheme under parsimony was evaluated. Among our phylogenetic conclusions, we found Annulipalpia to be the most basal of the three suborders, with Spicipalpia and Integripalpia forming a clade. Monophyly of Annulipalpia and Integripalpia was confirmed, but the relationships among spicipalpians remain equivocal. [Annulipalpia; Bayesian inference; dataset combination; homoplasy; Integripalpia; Spicipalpia; pseudoreplicate reweighting.]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five hundred and fifty-two caddisfly species are reported from the Upper Midwest region of the United States, an area that includes 13 states and ~ 2 million km². Of these, 62 species are reported for the first time from the state of Iowa, 25 from Wisconsin, 18 from South Dakota, 12 from Illinois, five from Indiana, four from North Dakota, four from Minnesota, and one from Nebraska. The Upper Midwest fauna contains nearly 40% of all species known from the United States and Canada, as well as 22 species endemic to the region. Overall species richness was highest in Michigan (319 species), Kentucky (296), Minnesota (292), and Wisconsin (284). Differences in state species assemblages within the region largely followed a geographic pattern, with species richness declining in the western prairie states. There are almost certainly further species remaining to be found in this large region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA barcoding was intended as a means to provide species-level identifications through associating DNA sequences from unknown specimens to those from curated reference specimens. Although barcodes were not designed for phylogenetics, they can be beneficial to the completion of the Tree of Life. The barcode database for Trichoptera is relatively comprehensive, with data from every family, approximately two-thirds of the genera, and one-third of the described species. Most Trichoptera, as with most of life's species, have never been subjected to any formal phylogenetic analysis. Here, we present a phylogeny with over 16 000 unique haplotypes as a working hypothesis that can be updated as our estimates improve. We suggest a strategy of implementing constrained tree searches, which allow larger datasets to dictate the backbone phylogeny, while the barcode data fill out the tips of the tree. We also discuss how this phylogeny could be used to focus taxonomic attention on ambiguous species boundaries and hidden biodiversity. We suggest that systematists continue to differentiate between 'Barcode Index Numbers' (BINs) and 'species' that have been formally described. Each has utility, but they are not synonyms. We highlight examples of integrative taxonomy, using both barcodes and morphology for species description. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]