Farrodes caribbianus (Traver)

Domínguez, Eduardo, Grillet, Maria-Eugenia, Nieto, Carolina, Molineri, Carlos & Guerrero, Edmundo, 2014, Ephemeroptera from the Venezuelan Guayanas´s Uplands: Families Leptophlebiidae, Euthyplociidae and Oligoneuriidae, Zootaxa 3827 (3), pp. 301-317 : 304

Farrodes caribbianus (Traver)

Thraulus caribbianus Traver, 1943: 79 ; Traver, 1960: 73; Hubbard, 1982: 267.

Farrodes caribbianus Domínguez, 1999: 159 .

Material. Venezuela, Edo Bolívar, Kavanayén stream, 5º 37’ 27’’N – 61º 44’ 37’’ W, 1355 m, 21/XI/2005, 25 nymphs. Small stream near Kavanayén locality, 5º 38’ 08’’N – 61º 40’ 47’’W, 1355 m. 22/XI/2005, 2 nymphs. Idem, except date 19/III/2006, 1 nymph. EG, MEG, AMO cols. The specimens were deposited at the MLBV, the Invertebrate Collection of Laboratorio de Biología de Vectores ( Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical , Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas ) and IBN ( Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical , Tucumán, Argentina) .

Discussion. This species was described from adults by Traver in the genus Thraulus , in 1943. Later, Domínguez (1999) described the nymphs for the first time and transferred the species to Farrodes , after a cladistic analysis was performed. This is one of the few nymphs of Farrodes that can be identified to species, by the following combination of characters: 1) abdominal terga yellow orange, with posterior 1/3 of segments II–VII blackish; 2) spines on dorsum of hind femora blunt; 3) spines on outer margin of tarsi III long, and 4) thick setae along outer margin of labial palps II. The species was recorded previously in Venezuela from Antimano, and Parque Nacional Henry Pittier Traver, 1943).

Distribution. Colombia, Venezuela, Panamá and Costa Rica.

Ecology. Nymphs of this species were collected from organic substrates such as macrophytes, leaves, and woody debris within the streams, during the rainy (November 2005) and dry (March 2006) seasons. The streams showed either partial or no cover vegetation. Overall, they were small size streams (2–9 m wide), with shallow (4–20 cm) and acidic waters (pH = 5), and with bottoms mainly composed of bed-rock.