Hydropsyche pellucidula ( Curtis 1834 )

Bemmoussat-Dekkak, Soumya, Abdellaoui-Hassaine, Karima, Sartori, Michel, Morse, John C. & Zamora-Muñoz, Carmen, 2021, Larval Taxonomy and Distribution of Genus Hydropsyche (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) in Northwestern Algeria, Zootaxa 4915 (4), pp. 481-505 : 494-500

Hydropsyche pellucidula ( Curtis 1834)

( Fig. 12 )

Material examined: Isser Wadi: One Ƌ imago was reared from a mature pupa (UTA), 03.vi.2019.

Chouly Wadi ( CH 1): 27 larvae ( UTA, UGS), 12.ix.2014 and 20 larvae ( UTA), 14.iv.2016 ; Khemis Wadi : 35 larvae ( UTA), 20.iv.2014 ; 5 larvae ( UTA), 21.vii.2014 ; 45 larvae ( UTA), 30.i.2015 ; 14 larvae ( UTA), 30.iv.2015 , and 20 ( UTA) larvae, 08.iii.2018 ; Tafna Wadi ( TFF): 75 larvae ( UTA), 30.i.2015 ; 15 larvae ( UTA), 17.iii.2014 , and 5 larvae ( UTA), 25.v.2014 ; Isser Wadi ( IOM): 90 larvae ( UTA), 12.iv.2014 ; 102 larvae ( UTA), 17.iii.2015 , and 43 larvae ( UTA), 14.iii.2014 ; Djamaa Sakhra ( SIB): 10 larvae ( UTA), 23.ii.2019 ; 24 ( UTA), 23.iii2019 , and 10 larvae ( UTA), 06.iv.2019 .

Description: Larva with yellowish body ( Fig. 12A ) and light brown head with two broad, light areas in posterolateral regions; aboral spot V-shaped ( Fig. 12B ). Submentum with narrow lateral lobes ( Fig. 12C , Table 2) and posterior prosternites pigmented ( Fig. 12D )

Distribution and ecology: The distribution area of this species is very wide. It encompasses Europe, Asia, and the Maghreb ( Morse 2020). It is reported from all Europe, including the eastern Galician Mountains ( Martin et al. 2014), from Asia ( China, West Palearctic and Nearctic Biogeographic Regions; Yang et al. 2016), from Iran ( Mirmoayedi & Malicky 2002), and from the Maghreb ( Algeria, Morocco; Tobias & Tobias 2008).

1, mp2 = morphotype 2).

It was found at three sites located at altitudes between 120 and 738 m a.s.l. in streams with streambeds between 5 and 10 m wide. The highest abundance was recorded at Isser Wadi (IOM) at 678 m. It is a rheophilic species, which prefers the hyporhithral and epipotamol zones ( Graf et al. 2008). Indeed, in our study, the specimens were encountered at high current velocities; larvae tend to be eurythermic.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Hydropsyche pellucidula (Curtis 1834). 12A, head and thorax, dorsal; 12B, cephalic capsule, dorsal; 12C, cephalic capsule, ventral; 12D, posterior prosternites, ventral. [scale bar = 1 mm].