Tuesday, December 11, 2007
D0253

Revision of the caddisfly genus Oligophlebodes (Trichoptera: Uenoidae)

Patina K. Mendez, pmendez@nature.berkeley.edu, University of Minnesota, Department of Entomology, 1980 Folwell Ave, Room 219, St. Paul, MN, Vincent H. Resh, vresh@nature.berkeley.edu, University of California, Berkeley, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, 201 Wellman Hall, Berkeley, CA, and Kipling Will, kiplingw@nature.berkeley.edu, University of California - Berkeley, 201 Wellman Hall, Berkeley, CA.

The genus Oligophlebodes Ulmer 1905 is a small genus of stone-cased caddisflies with seven recognized species. Historic collections of Oligophlebodes caddisflies have revealed them to be limited in distribution to high elevation streams (> 1,200 meters a.s.l.) in western North America. Species in the genus Oligophlebodes have been recognized as being difficult to identify because of the small size of the adults (< 7 mm) and similarly shaped male genitalic features. In this study, we present a revision of the genus, synonymizing two species, and describing new species based on male genitalic characters (lateral lobe of the inferior appendages and the external branch of the Xth segment). We used high-resolution digital photography to assist with identifications and in constructing digital interactive keys to species (Lucid3), publishing them for open access on the internet. By georeferencing locality data of museum collections, we have updated and delineated species distributions. Phylogenetic relationships between species based on adult and larval characters are considered.


Species 1: Trichoptera Uenoidae Oligophlebodes minutus