title: Larval morphology of the Western Balkans endemic caddisfliesDrusus krusnikiMalicky 1981,D. vernonensisMalicky 1989, andD. vespertinusMarinković 1976 (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae, Drusinae).
abstract: Drusinae (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae) are highland caddisflies inhabiting high-gradient, turbulent running water and spring habitats. They are disjunctly distributed over the Eurasian mountain ranges, and the majority of species is endemic to particular mountain areas. The most diverse of three main groups of the Drusinae, the grazer clade, consists of species in which larvae feed on epiltihic biofilm and algae. In this paper we describe three previously unknown grazer-clade Drusinae larvae:Drusus krusnikiMalicky 1981 (endemic to the Dinaric western Balkans),D. vernonensisMalicky 1989 (endemic to the Hellenic western Balkans), andD. vespertinusMarinković 1976 (endemic to the Dinaric western Balkans). The larvae of these species have toothless mandibles typical of the Drusinae grazer clade. Larvae and adults were unambiguously associated using molecular genetic data, i.e., the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene fragment (mtCOI3-P). Morphological characteristics of the larvae are described and the diagnostic features enabling species-level identification are illustrated. We further discuss the ecology and distribution of three Western Balkan endemic species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Bio-Ocenaography, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waringer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Previšić
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Mladen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kučinić
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecology Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Max Emanuel-Strasse 17, A-1180 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Graf
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Bio-Ocenaography, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vitecek
authors.affiliation: Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Clinicilor 5-7, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Lujza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Keresztes
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt a.M., Germany.
authors.forename: Miklós
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bálint
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt a.M., Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Pauls
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D063368:Balkan Peninsula; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D007313:Insecta / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007814:Larva
keywords: 5th instar larva; description; distribution; endemism; identification