Dipseudopsis robustior andamanensis Weaver & Malicky 1994 New records of Caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) from India Pandher, Manpreet Singh Kaur, Simarjit Garima, Deepti Dubey, Anil Kumar Zootaxa 2021 2021-12-02 5072 5 463 477 5GXD9 Weaver & Malicky 1994 Weaver & Malicky 1994 [151,921,835,862] Insecta Dipseudopsidae Dipseudopsis Animalia Trichoptera 1 464 Arthropoda subSpecies robustior andamanensis    Dipseudopsis robustior andamanensis Weaver & Malicky 1994, 134, fig. 47.  While identifying species of the genus  Dipseudopsis, the precise orientation of the modified hind tibial spur is crucial because slight rotations of a tibia produce different perspectives of the spur ( Weaver & Malicky 1994; Oláh & Johanson 2010c). Furthermore, the male genitalia are rather simple, often lacking conspicuous characters ( Oláh & Johanson 2010c). According to Weaver and Malicky (1994), “  D. robustior robustior Ulmer 1929is the most common species of genus  Dipseudopsisin Thailandand is somewhat difficult to distinguish from  D. collarisand  D. infuscata.Possibly these species are merely variants of a widely distributed species.” All three of these species are widespread in Southeast Asia:  D. r. robustiorhas been reported from Cambodia, Indonesia( Sumatra), Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam;  D. collarisfrom China( Hong Kong, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang), Japan(Hongshu, Kyushu), and the Philippines; and  D. infuscatafrom China( Yunnan) and Indonesia( Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Sumatra). On each hind tibia of  D. robustior robustiorthe apical points of the modified spur are unequal: one has a long slender curved point and the other has a short broad point. In  D. collaristhe points are shorter and subequal, only 1/3 as long as the base. In  D. infuscata, “the two apical points of the modified spur [have] the longer point straight and slightly shorter than the unmodified base of the spur, and the shorter point curved with its apex directed mesad” ( Weaver & Malicky 1994).    Dipseudopsis robustior andamanensis Weaver & Malicky 1994differs from  D. r. robustiorin that each hind tibia has a pincer-like modified hind tibial spur with two subequal points. The more recently described species  Dipseudopsis cocon Oláh & Johanson 2010c(from Vietnam) is very similar to  D. robustior andamensis,as both of these species have subequal crescent-shaped, pincer-like points of the modified hind tibial spurs. In their diagnosis for  D. cocon, Oláh and Johanson (2010c)did not mention  D. robustior andamanensis. Malicky (2013)suggested that  D. coconmay be a synonym of  D. robustior andamanensis. The only difference appears in the ratio of the length of the undivided base of a modified hind tibial spur to that of its two apical branches: The ratio is 0.5 for  D. coconand 1.6 for  D. robustior andamanensis. This difference may or may not be diagnostic for these two species-group taxa and  D. robustior andamanensismay or may not be a distinct species rather than a subspecies of  D. robustior. Resolution of these questions and questions about the status of  D. collarisand  D. infuscatawill depend on morphological and molecular comparisons of multiple specimens of each of these purported taxa from Southeast Asia. For now, the conservative choice is to maintain the current situation, listing  D. robustior andamanensisas an endemic subspecies on South Andaman Island.