DNA barcoding is an essential tool in modern biodiversity sciences. Despite considerable work to barcode the tree of life, many groups, including insects, remain partially or totally unreferenced, ...preventing barcoding from reaching its full potential. Aquatic insects, especially the three orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT), are key freshwater quality indicators worldwide. Among them, Plecoptera (stoneflies), which are among the most sensitive aquatic insects to habitat modification, play a central role in river monitoring surveys. Here, we present an update of the Plecoptera reference database for (meta)barcoding in Switzerland, now covering all 118 species known from this country. Fresh specimens, mostly from rare or localized species, were collected, and 151 new CO1 barcodes were generated. These were merged with the 422 previously published sequences, resulting in a dataset of 573 barcoded specimens. Our CO1 dataset was delimited in 115 CO1 clusters based on a priori morphological identifications, of which 17% are newly reported for Switzerland, and 4% are newly reported globally. Among the 115 CO1 clusters, 85% showed complete congruence with morphology. Distance-based analysis indicated local barcoding gaps in 97% of the CO1 clusters. This study significantly improves the Swiss reference database for stoneflies, enhancing future species identification accuracy and biodiversity monitoring. Additionally, this work reveals cryptic diversity and incongruence between morphology and barcodes, both presenting valuable opportunities for future integrative taxonomic studies. Voucher specimens, DNA extractions and reference barcodes are available for future developments, including metabarcoding and environmental DNA surveys.
In the recent annotated catalogue of the Turkish Plecoptera, the fauna of Anatolia are considered remarkably rich with 32 micro-endemic species currently recorded (Darilmaz et al. 2016). The major ...hot spot is the Pontus, the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. Nearly half of these micro-endemic stonefly species are only known from this region. The eastern subregion of the Pontus has a direct connection with the Caucasian stonefly fauna. This subregion even has an endemic species group of Leuctra Stephens, 1836, presently including four known species (Vinçon & Sivec 2001).
Se describe e ilustra una nueva especie, Zwicknia avilensis sp. n., de España a partir de machos y hembras adultos y de larvas del último estadio. También se discuten las afinidades morfológicas de ...esta nueva especie y se propone una clave para los adultos de Zwicknia de Europa occidental y meridional. Desde el punto de vista morfológico, Zwicknia avilensis sp. n. difiere claramente de todas las demás especies o subespecies conocidas del género Zwicknia.
The stoneflies of the Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco) are characterized by high endemicity but their ecology remains poorly known. We have surveyed the stonefly assemblages of northeastern ...Algeria mountain streams, a relatively unstudied region, and attempted to identify through co-inertia analysis the environmental correlates of their distribution. Species richness varied from nine taxa in the most species-rich localities to a single taxon in some anthropogenically impacted localities. Results indicated a significant co-structure between ecological descriptors and stonefly distribution and frequency of occurence. Mountain stream stonefly assemblages differed according to water conductivity, altitude, anthropogenic impacts, and spring proximity. The frequent occurrence of
Afroperlodes lecerfi
,
Brachyptera auberti
and
Tyrrenoleuctra tangerina
was indicative of high altitude, intermittent streams whereas
Amphinemura berthelemy
,
Eoperla ochracea
and
Leuctra sartori
favoured permanent, low-altitude headwaters. Conversely,
Leuctra
cf.
vaillanti
seemed to tolerate low altitude sites characterized by high water conductivity, large bed width and fast flow. This study also highlights the diversity of the Maghrebian endemic or microendemic stoneflies harbored by relict lotic streams and their sensitivity towards anthropogenic stressors.
A new species of Zwicknia Murányi, Z. gattolliati, from northern Italy and from the Italian Abruzzo Region is described and illustrated on the basis of the morphology of male and female adults and ...previous molecular and drumming studies.
The stoneflies of Turkey are reviewed providing all known distributions and including new records. Additionally, ecological and biogeographical notes are given. The genus Taeniopteryx Pictet 1841 is ...reported from Turkey for the first time and 12 species new for the Turkish fauna: Leuctra joosti Braasch 1970, L. kopetdaghi Zhiltzova 1972, Protonemura rauschi Theischinger 1975, P. strandschaensis Braasch & Joost 1972, Nemoura asceta Murányi 2007, N. cambrica Stephens 1836, N. uncinata Despax 1934, Taeniopteryx caucasica Zhiltzova 1981, Brachyptera risi (Morton 1896), Pontoperla katherinae (Balinsky 1950), Siphonoperla neglecta (Rostock 1881), and Bulgaroperla mirabilis nigrita Zwick 1978. Protonemura bithynica Aubert 1964 and Nemoura turcica Zwick 1972 are recognized as full species. The previously unknown female of Leuctra marilouae Vinçon & Sivec 2001 is described. The type locality is also given for each species located in Turkey. The distributions of several rare endemic species are augmented by additional new records (Leuctra aculeata Zwick 1982, L. brachyptera Kazancı 1985, L. karcali Vinçon & Sivec 2001, L. kurui Kazancı 1983, L. marilouae Vinçon & Sivec 2001, L. sipahilerae Vinçon & Sivec 2001, L. theischingeri Vinçon & Sivec 2001, Protonemura bacurianica bacurianica Zhiltzova 1957, P. oreas Martynov 1928, P. spinulata Martynov 1928 (first confirmed records from Anatolia), P. triangulata Martynov 1928, Nemoura dromokeryx Theischinger 1976, N. martynovia Claassen 1936, and Brachyptera berkii Kazancı 2001. Several species previously reported only from females are excluded from the Turkish fauna: Leuctra minuta minuta Zhiltzova 1960, L. svanetica Zhiltzova 1960, P. dilatata Martynov 1928. Other species are also excluded from the Turkish fauna: L. fusca fusca (Linnaeus 1758), N. carpathica Illies 1963, Siphonoperla burmeisteri (Pictet 1841), and S. libanica Alouf, 1992. According to literature and our new faunistic data, 117 stonefly taxa representing 7 families and 24 genera are known from Turkey. Among them, 44 are endemic species from Anatolia.
An overview of Moroccan stoneflies is presented as an annotated summary of published and unpublished records from 115 localities. These records have resulted in an updated species list reflecting ...taxonomic corrections and noteworthy range extensions for several species. A total of 28 species, belonging to 15 genera and seven families, is now known from Morocco with the greatest diversity found in the Rif Mountains (23 species) and the lowest in eastern Morocco with three species. The majority of Moroccan stoneflies are typical Mediterranean species (86%). The Moroccan endemics comprise nine species (32% of the Moroccan fauna). The Plecoptera fauna of Morocco is compared to that of Algeria and Tunisia. Thirty-eight stonefly species are reported from the entire Maghreb region. Protonemura khroumiriensis Béjaoui & Boumaïza, 2009 is considered a synonym of P. drahamensis Vinçon & Pardo, 2006.
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