Hydroptila cruciata Ulmer, 1912

Wells, Alice & De Moor, Ferdinand C., 2020, Hydroptilidae (Trichoptera) of Angola, a new genus, seven new species, and five new records, Zootaxa 4868 (4), pp. 495-514 : 500

Hydroptila cruciata Ulmer

( Figs 10, 11 )

Hydroptila cruciata Ulmer 1912: 83 , fig. 4. For details of multiple synonyms see Morse (2020).

Material examined. ANGOLA: 1 pharate adult male in sandgrain case, [CAW 797J], Moxico, Cuando River, Site 20— Cuando River long bridge at village, in sand, -13.0923, 19.35946, 16/xi/2016, I.S. Ferreira .

Distribution. This species was described from East Africa and is now known to be more widespread in tropical and southern Africa and the West Palaearctic.

Remarks. Hydroptila cruciata is readily distinguished by the pair of elongate, stoutly sinuous, sclerotised structures in the male genitalia that arise above the bases of the inferior appendages, converge and usually cross distally. The pharate adult in a sandgrain case is unusual, as larvae of H. cruciata in South Africa use filamentous algae ( Spirogyra sp.) to construct their cases ( de Moor 2015). It could indicate that this species comprises an aphanic (cryptic, see Steyskal 1972) species complex.

Figures

FIGURES 10–19. Hydroptilidae, male genitalia. 10, 11, Hydroptila cruciata Ulmer, 1912 [CAW 797J]: 10, ventral; 11, dorsal. 12, 13, Hydroptila species [CAW 828F, 830E]: larvae in cases built with strands of filamentous algae. 14, 15, Hydroptila?cruciata [CAW 797J], larva in sand grain case and isolated larva. 16–18, Orthotrichia sp. [CAW 798S], mature fifth-instar cased larva: 16, dorsal; 17, ventral; 18, right lateral. 19, Tricholeiochiton sp. [CAW 755M], early fifth-instar cased larva; note characteristic long legs and tarsal claws.